Vandana Desai
Head Of Science Staff at Caltech/IPAC
Pasadena, California, United States
Summary
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Senior🎓
Top SchoolVandana Desai is the Head of Science Staff at Caltech/IPAC and Science Lead for the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, overseeing a 50-person research organization that enables access to roughly a trillion astronomical measurements used by the community and cited in 15% of refereed astronomy papers. She blends scientific leadership, programmatic strategy, and hands-on experience with large survey and simulated datasets to shape how astronomers will use cloud-based “big data” platforms for analysis. A Caltech alumnus with a PhD from the University of Washington, Vandana’s research background in galaxy formation and IR observations underpins her work translating scientific needs into archival services and tools. She directs a cross-disciplinary effort to modernize science platforms, manages scientist–engineer teams, and shepherds NASA reviews and community interfaces—skills honed from leading Spitzer data-product teams to running IRSA. Notably, her role bridges frontline scientific discovery and the infrastructure that preserves and democratizes mission data for decades.
9 years of coding experience
10 years of employment as a software developer
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Astronomy, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Astronomy at University of WashingtonCalifornia Institute of Technology
Github Skills (13)
php6
astronomy6
python5
firefly5
python-api4
api3
visualization3
astropy3
astrophysics3
machine-learning2
jupyterhub1
jupyterlab1
jupyter1
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
nasa-fornax/fornax-planning
Dec 2021 - Jul 2024
Code for a prototype system providing cloud data and compute access for NASA Astrophysics Archives
Contributions:5 pushes, 35 comments, 40 issues in 2 years 7 months
pythonastrophysicscloudprototypecloud-and-data
vandesai1/navo_workshops
Nov 2017 - Dec 2017
Contributions:36 pushes, 1 branch in 1 month
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