The core of the Nautilus team is based at The University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences and Departments of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Additional expertise is provided by team members at Northrop-Grumman and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Our team combines experts in astrophysics and observational astronomy, planetary sciences, innovative optical design, optical fabrication, and optical surface metrology, and spacecraft design and engineering, human spaceflight and space servicing, among many other areas.
Prof. Daniel Apai
Nautilus Array Principal Investigator
Professor for Astronomy and Planetary Sciences
University of Arizona
Daniel Apai is an expert on extrasolar planet studies and leads major atmospheric characterization programs on the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes. He is also principal investigator of the NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science program Alien Earths, a large, multi-disciplinary project aimed at understanding the formation of earth-sized habitable zone planets.
Prof. Thomas Milster
Lead, Optical Design
University of Arizona Professor for Optical Sciences
Tom D. Milster is a Professor in the College of Optical Sciences and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona. Since 1989, his research interests include physical optics of high-performance optical systems and diffractive optics, with applications in microscopy, optical data storage, lithography and astronomy.
Prof. Daewook Kim
Lead, Optical Surface Metrology, Large Optics Fabrication and Testing
Associate Professor for Optical Sciences and Astronomy
University of Arizona 
Daewook Kim has been working in the optical engineering field for more than 10 years, focusing on very large astronomical optics such as 25m diameter Giant Magellan Telescope primary mirror and 4.2m Advanced Technology Solar Telescope primary mirror. His main research area has been the precision optical fabrication field. He is also working on various optical metrology topics such as interferometric testing using computer generated holograms, direct curvature measurement and dynamic deflectometry systems. He is an Associate Editor for Optics Express journal.
Dr. Jonathan Arenberg
Lead, Spacecraft Architecture and Performance Assessment
Chief Engineer, Northrop Grumman Advanced Systems
Jonathan Arenberg is Chief Engineer for Space Science Missions at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach CA, and has worked on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope and the starshade. His research interests development of future missions of traditional and novel technologies.
Chuck Fellows, MSc, E. E.
Project Manager
University of Arizona
Dr. Glenn Schneider
Science Requirements
Astronomer and Research Professor
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Kira Purvin
Optical fabrication and testing
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Optical Sciences and Engineering
University of Arizona
Marcos Esparza
Optical fabrication and surface metrology
Graduate Student, Optical Sciences University of Arizona
Tom Connors
Space Telescope Architecture
Senior Engineer and Project Manager, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Prof. Young-Sik Kim
Optical design
Assistant Research Professor of Optical Sciences
Alex Bixel, PhD
Science Requirements
SpaceX, formerly at University of Arizona
Zichan Wang
Optical Design and Testing
Graduate Student, Optical Sciences, University of Arizona
John Guzman
Space Telescope Architecture
Associate Engineer, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona