Michael Mendillo
Professor of Astronomy
As Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michael Mendillo leads a research group in space physics that has developed new low-light-level imaging techniques for observations of emissions from the Earth’s atmosphere. Radio observations and modeling studies are merged with an optical tomography program to investigate various areas of “space weather” in the solar terrestrial system. Professor Mendillo is also known for his work on so-called Active Experiments—the technique of introducing (by space shuttle or sounding rockets) known gaseous perturbations into space plasmas, observing the induced effects, and then deriving the basic physical processes that govern the system.