Alexander Arriola, PhD, 2013
ALUMNI FOCUS
Alexander Arriola, PhD, 2013
Science/Technology/Environment/ June 4, 2015
While Alexander Arriola’s PhD research focused on using lasers to fabricate sensors to measure the concentrations of Parkinson’s biomarkers in the blood, after graduation he spent a year in Edinburgh focusing on astronomy. His quest for Earth-like planets around newly formed stars brought him back to Macquarie a year later, where he remains as a postdoctoral researcher. Today, he designs, fabricates and tests optical circuits for telescopes in Coonabarabran and Hawaii. “The work uses photonics circuits and Macquarie is a world leader in this field,” Alex says. “When I studied for my PhD, my colleagues came from 10 different nationalities, united by their passion for physics. They have become some of my best friends,“he says.