Andrew Mcnichols
Software Engineer at National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolAndrew Mcnichols is a software engineer with eight years' experience building tools for international collaborations at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, applying computing to complex problems in astrophysics. Based in Charlottesville, VA, he blends practical software development with domain knowledge from dual degrees in astronomy and physics, enabling him to translate research needs into reliable engineering solutions. Known for a curious, hands-on approach (his GitHub handle — howdoyouturnthison — hints at playful experimentation), he tackles data-heavy and distributed challenges common in radio astronomy projects. His background in liberal arts and Spanish language study supports clear cross-cultural communication across global teams. Colleagues rely on him to connect scientific requirements, operational constraints, and maintainable code to keep observatory systems producing science.
8 years of coding experience
Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Language and Culture at Mundolengua Exchange ProgramBachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Astronomy, Physics, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Astronomy, Physics at University of Hawaii at HiloLiberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at University of VermontHigh School Diploma, General, High School Diploma, General at Westhill High School
Github Skills (103)
python10
astronomy10
datasets10
scrapy10
core-library10
orbital-mechanics10
science10
pandas9
astrology9
lichess9
netcdf9
oceanography9
functional-programming9
h5py9
scala9
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
casangi/casabench
Sep 2021 - Apr 2025
Tracking performance metrics of CASA
Contributions:10 reviews, 13 PRs, 826 pushes in 3 years 7 months
casaperformance-trackingperformance-metricstrackingperformance
amcnicho/amcnicho.github.io
Sep 2018 - Jan 2024
Contributions:114 pushes, 1 branch in 5 years 4 months
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