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About

Narae Hwang is a leading figure in astronomical instrumentation, with a primary focus on developing advanced multi-object spectroscopy capabilities for next-generation giant telescopes. Her most impactful work centers on the MANIFEST system, a sophisticated multi-object fibre facility designed for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). Hwang’s major contribution is the integration of innovative ‘Starbug’ robots, which autonomously and precisely position fibre units across the telescope’s focal plane. This breakthrough enables MANIFEST to offer dramatically larger fields of view and significantly higher multiplexing when coupled with GMT’s planned seeing-limited instruments, transforming the telescope’s ability to conduct wide-field spectroscopic surveys. Her 2018 paper detailing this system has garnered 5 citations, establishing a foundational reference for the GMT instrumentation community. Hwang’s work is pivotal in bridging the gap between large aperture and wide-field capability, directly impacting studies ranging from galaxy evolution to stellar populations. Her engineering and design achievements position her as a key contributor to the future of ground-based observational astronomy, enabling transformative science through robotic fibre positioning.