Precision Metrology for Space Science: LISA, Atom Interferometry, and Optical Clocks
By Walter Victor Unglaub
Register here:
https://aiaa-sf.org/registration/
The hardest space-science missions are, at their core, measurement problems. ESA’s LISA gravitational-wave observatory was formally adopted in January 2024, with industrial construction under prime contractor OHB System AG underway since mid-2025, and launch targeted for the mid-to-late 2030s on the Ariane 6 launcher. LISA must resolve picometer-scale changes in distance across 2.5-million-kilometer arms: a fractional measurement of order one part in 10^21. At that level, the spacecraft and instrument form a single coupled measurement system, and the limiting noise sources are precisely the types an analog and measurement engineer worries about on the bench, scaled to extremes. In this talk, we will walk through the LISA metrology chain end-to-end, mapping each link to the noise term it contributes. We will also examine how this metrology cross-pollinates. GRACE Follow-On’s laser ranging interferometer (LRI) demonstrated nanometer precision over 220km and the GRACE-FO mission now maps changes in Earth’s gravity associated with groundwater, ice, oceans, and other redistributed mass. Meanwhile, atom interferometers and portable optical clocks are moving fundamental-physics techniques toward field-deployable inertial sensing, gravity measurement, and relativistic geodesy.
Walter Victor Unglaub received degrees in engineering physics (2009) and applied physics (2010) from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO, where he studied condensed matter systems with an emphasis on atomic scattering in cold quantum gases. He additionally worked on plasma physics and researched tokamak plasma transport at General Atomics in San Diego, CA (2008). His research experience further extends to quantum optics and open quantum system control through DoD MURI grants at the University of Southern California (USC) from 2010 to 2015.
Walter worked at the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, teaching and collaborating on various government- and university-funded research projects, including x-ray imaging of semiconductor ICs, automation of analog and mixed-signal design, and optimization of optical interconnects in data centers (2017-2020). In parallel, Walter worked at a robotics startup (Giant.AI) as a design engineer and project manager (2019-2022), where he designed, manufactured, assembled, and tested humanoid robots trained with reinforcement learning.
Walter is passionate about teaching and has been professionally tutoring since 2013. He currently teaches cosmology as an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Dominguez Hills (2022-present), and is studying regenerative and stem cell technologies through Johns Hopkins University (2024-present). In addition to continuing research in quantum optics and electron transport, he is also a VLSI research engineer at USC, where he develops labs and teaching modules for the ECE department with a concentration on linear, RF, and sensor circuits (2024-present).
Schedule
6:00 Doors open, networking
6:15 Food arrives
6:30 Presentation begins
7:15 Q&A
7:30 Event ends
(All times approximate)
Advance registration required! Refreshments (pizza, sandwiches, drinks) will be served at the presentation for paid attendees only. Food tickets must be purchased before noon on the event day.
There will also be a live stream available for remote attendees.