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About

Jon Ameel is a key engineer behind the robotic precision that powers the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), one of the most ambitious cosmological surveys ever undertaken. His core expertise lies in the design, production, and validation of the instrument’s groundbreaking focal plane system. Ameel’s most significant contribution is the development and deployment of 5,020 robotic fiber positioners on the Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak. These robots automatically retarget optical fibers every 10–20 minutes with micron-level precision, a feat that enables DESI to capture the spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14,000 square degrees. This capability is essential for measuring the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. His work on the system’s production and rigorous performance testing, documented in his highly cited 2022 paper (175 citations), directly enabled the instrument’s operational success. By solving the challenge of rapid, reliable robotic reconfiguration, Ameel has helped transform a theoretical survey into a working observatory, making him a pivotal figure in the engineering of modern, large-scale astrophysics.