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About

Nicholas F. Staszak is a leading astronomical instrumentation engineer whose work has been pivotal in advancing Galactic Archaeology—the study of our Milky Way’s formation and evolution through stellar populations. He played a central role in the design, integration, and first-light commissioning of the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, a facility-class instrument that enables the massive GALAH survey. His contributions to HERMES, documented in papers with over 90 citations, have provided astronomers with a powerful tool to unravel the chemical and kinematic history of the Galaxy. Staszak has also been instrumental in developing next-generation robotic fiber positioning systems. He led the engineering design of the TAIPAN positioner, which uses innovative “Starbug” robots to deploy up to 300 optical fibers, and contributed to the MANIFEST concept for the Giant Magellan Telescope. These systems dramatically increase multiplexing and field-of-view capabilities for large-scale spectroscopic surveys. Through his work on HERMES, TAIPAN, and MANIFEST, Staszak has helped lay the technological foundation for the future of multi-object spectroscopy, enabling transformative discoveries in stellar astrophysics and galaxy evolution.