Ved Chirayath

Professor of Earth Sciences, Mechanical, and Aerospace Engineering. Director of the Aircraft Center for Earth Studies (ACES)

Ved Chirayath is a renowned scientist and researcher who currently holds several prestigious positions at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science:

Academic Positions

G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth Sciences1 3
Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Director of the Aircraft Center for Earth Studies (ACES)1 3

Research Focus

Dr. Chirayath's work centers on inventing, developing, and testing next-generation sensing technologies for studying the natural world.2 3 His research aims to:

Extend capabilities for studying and protecting life on Earth
Aid in the search for life elsewhere in the universe

Notable Achievements

NASA Career::

Former director of the NASA Laboratory for Advanced Sensing at Ames Research Center1
Invented several technologies for NASA, including FluidCam, fluid lensing, MiDAR, and NeMO-Net1
Received multiple NASA awards, including the 2019 NASA Invention of the Year for MiDAR1

Awards and Recognition::

American Geophysical Union's 2020 Charles S. Falkenberg Award1 3
NASA Early Career Award in 20171
NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal in 20161

Other Accomplishments::

National Geographic Explorer2
One of 30 finalists out of 12,000 applicants for the NASA Astronaut Candidate Class of 20212
Professional photographer featured in publications like Vogue and The New York Times1

Early Career

As a high school sophomore in 2003, Chirayath modified a consumer digital camera and telescope to detect an extra-solar planet 150 light years from Earth.1 2 He later earned his doctoral degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 2016.1