Seminar Series
Fall 2026
For the Fall 2026 semester, seminars will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursdays via Zoom or in person at the Wannalancit Business Center, room 305, unless otherwise noted.
If you are interested in attending in person or via Zoom, please email: Lynne_Schaufenbil@uml.edu.
The seminar on October 8, “Physics-Informed Neural Network Design for Coronagraphic Dark Zone Creation,” will start at noon.
| Date | Speaker | Title | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 10 | Melania Nynka | Our Astounding X-Ray Universe | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) / Kavli | |
| September 17 | Rhonda Morgan | Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) Yield with Machine Learning Emulators | The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | |
| September 24 | Niki Sajjad | Learning Space Sustainability by doing Hands-on Education, Outreach and Capacity Building | Space Systems Engineering research group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust (SnT) University of Luxembourg | |
| October 1 | Alex Glocer | Observing and Modeling the Escape of Ionospheric Plasma | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) | |
| October 8 | Michael Jones | Physics-Informed Neural Network Design for Coronagraphic Dark Zone Creation | UMass Lowell / Lowell Center for Space Science and Technologies (LoCSST) | |
| Charmi Patel | Deriving Physical Parameters of Auroral Event for Simultaneous Atomic and Molecular Emissions | |||
| Joshua Fitzpatrick | Predicting the Daytime Sky Brightness at Balloon Altitudes for PICTURE-D | |||
| October 15 | Longzhi Gan | Nonlinear Wave–Particle Interactions and Energetic Electron Precipitation in Earth’s Magnetosphere | Boston University (BU) | |
| October 22 | Ted Beach | Radio Wave Scintillation in the Ionosphere – An Overview | Boston College (BC) | |
| October 29 | Jessica M. Weber | Understanding Habitability with Ceres Surface Chemistry | The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | |
| November 5 | Student Presentations: 1. QuangTuong ChauNguyen 2. Adedayo Akande | 1. "Simulations of Parker Solar Probe Spacecraft Charging in the Near-Sun Environment" 2. "Three-Dimensional Polar Topside Electron Density Reconstruction Using Ground Based and Low Earth Orbit - Global Navigation Satellite System Total Electron Content (LEO-GNSS TEC) During Quiet-Time Equinox " | UMass Lowell / Lowell Center for Space Sciences and Technologies (LoCSST) | |
| November 12 | Josh Brown | Infrared Optics: Practical Considerations for System Design | Anduril | |
| November 19 | Stephanie Colón-Rodríguez | To be announced. | University of Michigan | |
| December 3 | Student Presentations | To be announced. | To be announced. |
To see seminars we've held previously, please visit our Past Seminars page.
Spring 2026
| Date | Speaker | Title | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 29 | Fatemeh Bagheri | Probing Exoplanet Magnetospheres: From Models to Detection | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) |
| February 5 | Luisa Capannolo | Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) - Driven Electron Precipitation: Findings from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Observations | Boston University |
| February 12 | Katelynn Greer | Mid-latitude Quiet-time Longitude Variations of Thermospheric Composition and Ionospheric Density | University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) |
| February 19 | Sam Badman | Exploring the Sun's Alfvén Surface in the era of Parker Solar Probe | Center for Astrophysics |
| February 26 | Ryan Maguire | Radio Science Data with Cassini | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| March 19 | Nirupam Roy | Multiphase Atomic Interstellar Medium (ISM): Lessons from Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Simulations | University of Massachusetts Lowell Fulbright Program |
| March 26 | Lynn Kistler | Interplay of Sources in the Earth’s Plasma Sheet | University of New Hampshire |
| April 2 | Shany Danieli | Observational Frontiers in Dwarf Galaxies: Probing Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation on Small Scales | Tel Aviv University |
| April 9 | Lana Tilke | Undiscovered Dynamos of the Solar System: Prospects at Triton and Io | Arizona State University |
| April 16 | Paul Horton | From System Design to Realtime Analysis: End-to-End Integration with ASTHROS | University of Massachusetts Lowell |
| April 23 | Anhar Uddin Bhuiyan | From Growth to Devices: Enabling High-Performance Ga₂O₃ Power Electronics | University of Massachusetts Lowell |
| April 30 | Frank White | Artemis 2 and Apollo 8: The rise of "Overview Thinking" | Author, The Overview Effect |
For the Spring 2026 semester, seminars will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursdays via Zoom or in person at the Wannalancit Business Center, room 305, unless otherwise noted.
The seminar on February 12 on Mid-latitude Quiet-time Longitude Variations of Thermospheric Composition and Ionospheric Density will be fully remote.
If you are interested in attending in person or via Zoom, please email Lynne_Schaufenbil@uml.edu.
To see seminars we've held previously, please visit our Past Seminars page.