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Giuseppe Cataldo

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Giuseppe Cataldo

  • AST, CONTAMINATION CONTROL
  • 301.286.3491
  • Org Code: 546
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 665
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NASA

    • Brief Bio

    Giuseppe Cataldo leads the planetary protection efforts of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS). His expertise is in the design, testing and management of space systems, gained through 10+ years at NASA and earning his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

    Giuseppe has contributed to a variety of NASA missions and projects such as:

    • JWST, the James Webb Space Telescope, for which he spearheaded the development of a Bayesian-based model validation approach and uncertainty quantification framework that led to drastic reductions in the time and cost of the required analysis cycles with superior results when compared to state-of-the-art methodologies. For further details, see here.
    • EXCLAIM, the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping, a far-infrared balloon-borne telescope, whose development he led as chief engineer,
    • PRIME, the PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment, whose near-infrared camera development he led as chief engineer,
    • ATLAST, the Advanced-Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope, now known as LUVOIR,
    • OSIRIS-REx, the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer,
    • Micro-X, the High-Resolution Microcalorimeter X-ray Imaging Rocket,
    • feasibility and multidisciplinary optimization studies of instrumentation for space telescopes (e.g., Micro-Spec), payloads for Earth-imaging satellites, and advanced concepts for lunar exploration.

    He first joined NASA in 2009 fully sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) as one of the two European students selected for the NASA Academy, NASA's premiere leadership program for talented students. During the program, he was one of the select recipients of the John Mather Nobel Scholar Award.

    Giuseppe is fond of space policy and contributes to public outreach and educational activities for young students, professionals and the general public in a variety of settings around the world. He speaks six languages and in his spare time, he enjoys playing violin and piano, swimming, hiking, skiing, sailing, reading, traveling and hanging out with his friends.

    Education

    PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics

    Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering within the Top International Managers in Engineering (TIME) Program

    • Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace SUPAERO, Toulouse, France (November 2010)
    • Thesis title: Optical Properties of Astronomical Silicates with Infrared Techniques

    Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering within the High Polytechnic School (ASP) Program

    • Polytechnic Institute of Turin, Italy (November 2010)
    • Thesis as above

    Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering

    • Polytechnic Institute of Milan, Italy (October 2010)
    • Thesis as above

    Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering

    • Polytechnic Institute of Milan, Italy (July 2007)
    • Thesis title: Experimental research on innovative solid fuels for hybrid propellers

    

    Awards

    NASA Goddard Sciences & Exploration Directorate Mentoring Award, 2021

    NASA Special Act Award (Multi-messenger Astrophysics Probe Study Team), 2021

    NASA Goddard Engineering Team Award (JWST Integrated Modeling Team), 2020

    Young Scientist Award (Italian Cultural Society of Washington, DC), 2019

    AIAA Senior Member, 2019

    NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, 2017

    NASA Group Achievement Award (JWST Core 2 Test Team), 2017

    First "Ex-alunno" Prize ("A. Chionna" Middle and Elementary School, Lizzano, Italy), 2015

    AIAA Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award, 2014

    MIT Arthur Gelb Fellowship, 2012-2013

    Honorary Plaque (Mayor of Lizzano, Italy), 2012

    Mayoux-Dauriac Prize (ISAE-SUPAERO, France), 2010

    Pegasus Award (ISAE-SUPAERO and Polytechnic Institute of Milan), 2010

    ESA Research Grant, 2010

    NASA John Mather Nobel Scholar Award, 2009

    NASA Academy Award (NASA/ESA), 2009

    Top Industrial Managers for Europe Award (TIME), 2008

    High Polytechnic School Award, 2008

    Numerous travel grants (SPIE, IEEE, MIT, NASA)

    Research Interests

    Systems engineering
    Multidisciplinary design optimization
    Multifidelity uncertainty quantification

    Infrared astronomy
    High-precision infrared instrumentation for space, balloon and ground telescopes
    Dielectric properties of materials of astrophysical and engineering interest
    Origin and evolution of dust in the early universe

    Current Projects

    Mars Sample Return (MSR)

    Capture, Containment & Return System (CCRS)

    • Oversees all project's Planetary Protection efforts aimed at achieving an appropriate risk posture and building an assurance case for this first Category V Restricted Earth Return mission, with the goal to avoid introducing extraterrestrial material of concern into Earth’s biosphere.
    • Oversees requirements verification for all project engineering systems used to break the chain of contact with Mars and assure containment of unsterilized Mars particles through Earth return in a ballistic Earth entry system without parachute.
    • Coordinates activities with all relevant teams and interfaces with the MSR Program to support interactions with external stakeholders.
    • Leads all related modeling, simulation and uncertainty quantification efforts.

    Multifidelity Uncertainty Quantification (MFUQ)

    • Leads all efforts to develop and apply an efficient framework for multifidelity uncertainty quantification to inform and guide the design, verification and validation processes of complex, large-scale, multidisciplinary systems throughout their life cycle.
    • MFUQ leverages a variety of low-fidelity models to obtain speed-ups, while keeping the main high-fidelity model in the loop to guarantee convergence to the correct result.
    • MFUQ enables rigorous UQ and provides insightful results from a complex system model faster and with a better understanding of the model inputs and outputs than the traditional way of relying only on an expensive high-fidelity model.
    • This approach improves project performance by reducing the analysis time and freeing up resources for activities, such as integration and testing, that can have a major influence on the system's ability to meet the requirements.
    • Successfully applied to JWST and currently on MSR.

    Materials' Optical Characterization in the Infrared and Sub-millimeter

    • Modeling, analysis, and interpretation of the dielectric properties of silicon-based materials of astrophysical and engineering interest: silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon carbide, bulk silicon and astrophysical dust analogs.

    Professional Societies

    SPIE - Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, 2014 - Present
    Sigma Xi - The Scientific Honor Research Society, 2013 - Present
    AIAA - American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011 - Present
    Senior Member, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Technical Committee (2018 - Present)
    AAS - American Astronomical Society, 2011 - 2019
    ISSNAF - Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation, 2011 - Present
    DMV Chapter Co-founder and Chair, NASA Chapter Co-founder and former Chair
    NAAA - NASA Academy Alumni Association, 2009 - Present
    Vice President of Operations (2010), Application Scoring Committee (2010 - Present), Academy Interview Committee (2010 - Present)

    Other Professional Information

    Languages: English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German.

    Referee service for journals (Nature Scientific Reports, Applied Optics, Optics Express, Optics Letters, Applied Physics B, Journal of Low Temperature Physics, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Optical Engineering, Systems Engineering) and conferences (AIAA, AAS - session chair, ISSNAF).

    Reviewer: NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) and NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) applications.

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Cataldo, G., E. Qian, and J. Auclair. 2022. "Multifidelity uncertainty quantification and model validation of large-scale multidisciplinary systems." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 8 (03): [10.1117/1.jatis.8.3.038001]

    Switzer, E. R., E. M. Barrentine, G. Cataldo, et al. T. Essinger-Hileman, P. A. Ade, C. J. Anderson, A. Barlis, J. Beeman, N. Bellis, A. D. Bolatto, P. C. Breysse, B. T. Bulcha, L.-R. Chevres-Fernanadez, C. Cho, J. A. Connors, N. Ehsan, J. Glenn, J. Golec, J. P. Hays-Wehle, L. A. Hess, A. E. Jahromi, T. Jenkins, M. O. Kimball, A. J. Kogut, L. N. Lowe, P. Mauskopf, J. McMahon, M. Mirzaei, H. Moseley, J. Mugge-Durum, O. Noroozian, T. M. Oxholm, T. Parekh, U.-L. Pen, A. R. Pullen, M. Rahmani, M. M. Ramirez, F. Roselli, K. Shire, G. Siebert, A. K. Sinclair, R. S. Somerville, R. Stephenson, T. R. Stevenson, P. Timbie, J. Termini, J. Trenkamp, C. Tucker, E. Visbal, C. G. Volpert, E. J. Wollack, S. Yang, and L. Y. Yung. 2021. "Experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping: instrument design." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 7 (04): [10.1117/1.jatis.7.4.044004]

    Wollack, E., G. Cataldo, K. Miller, and M. Quijada. 2020. "Infrared properties of high-purity silicon." Optics Letters, 45 (17): 4935-4938 [10.1364/OL.393847]

    Cataldo, G., E. M. Barrentine, B. T. Bulcha, et al. N. Ehsan, L. A. Hess, O. Noroozian, T. R. Stevenson, E. J. Wollack, S. H. Moseley, and E. R. Switzer. 2019. "Second-generation Micro-Spec: A compact spectrometer for far-infrared and submillimeter space missions." Acta Astronautica, 162: 155-159 [10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.06.012]

    Bulcha, B. T., G. Cataldo, T. R. Stevenson, et al. K. U-Yen, S. H. Moseley, and E. J. Wollack. 2018. "Electromagnetic Design of a Magnetically Coupled Spatial Power Combiner." Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 193: 777-785 [10.1007/s10909-018-1923-2]

    Cataldo, G., M. B. Niedner, D. J. Fixsen, and S. H. Moseley. 2017. "Model-based thermal system design optimization for the James Webb Space Telescope." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 3 (4): 044202 [10.1117/1.JATIS.3.4.044002]

    Cataldo, G., and E. J. Wollack. 2016. "Submillimeter and far-infrared dielectric properties of thin films." Proc. SPIE 9914, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII, 99142W [10.1117/12.2232648]

    Cataldo, G., E. M. Barrentine, A. D. Brown, et al. S. H. Moseley, K. U-Yen, and E. J. Wollack. 2016. "Fabrication and characterization of superconducting resonators." Journal of Visualized Experiments, 111: e53868 [10.3791/53868]

    Cataldo, G., E. J. Wollack, A. D. Brown, and K. H. Miller. 2016. "Infrared dielectric properties of low-stress silicon oxide." Optics Letters, 41 (7): 1364-1367 [10.1364/OL.41.001364]

    Cataldo, G., S. H. Moseley, and E. J. Wollack. 2015. "A four-pole power-combiner design for far-infrared and submillimeter spectroscopy." Acta Astronautica, 114 (C): 54-59 [10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.04.002]

    Cataldo, G., E. J. Wollack, E. Barrentine, et al. A. D. Brown, S. H. Moseley, and K. U-Yen. 2015. "Analysis and calibration techniques for superconducting resonators." Review of Scientific Instruments, 86 (1): 013103 [10.1063/1.4904972]

    Cataldo, G., M. Chodas, P. Dave, et al. A. Dixit, S. Hall, R. Harris, D. Hayhurst, F. Mier-Hicks, C. Jewison, J.-D. Ioana, B. Karlow, B. McCarthy, A. Owens, E. Peters, M. Shaw, D. Sternberg, K. Voelbel, and M. Wu. 2014. "Tradespace Investigation of a Telescope Architecture for Next-generation Space Astronomy and Exploration." MIT Technical Reports, SSL (13-14): [http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92407]

    Cataldo, G., W.-T. Hsieh, W.-C. Huang, et al. S. H. Moseley, T. R. Stevenson, and E. J. Wollack. 2014. "Micro-Spec: an ultracompact, high-sensitivity spectrometer for far-infrared and submillimeter astronomy." Applied Optics, 53 (6): 1094-1102 [10.1364/AO.53.001094]

    Richey, C. R., R. E. Kinzer, G. Cataldo, et al. E. J. Wollack, J. A. Nuth, D. J. Benford, R. F. Silverberg, and S. A. Rinehart. 2013. "Optical Properties of Iron Silicates in the Infrared to Millimeter as a Function of Wavelength and Temperature." The Astrophysical Journal, 770 (46): 1-12 [10.1088/0004-637X/770/1/46]

    Cataldo, G., J. A. Beall, H.-M. Cho, et al. B. McAndrew, M. D. Niemack, and E. J. Wollack. 2012. ""Infrared dielectric properties of low-stress silicon nitride" ." Optics Letters , 37 (20): 4200-4202 [10.1364/OL.37.004200]

    Rinehart, S. A., D. J. Benford, G. Cataldo, et al. E. Dwek, R. Henry, R. E. Kinzer, J. A. Nuth, R. F. Silverberg, C. Wheeler, and E. J. Wollack. 2011. ""Measuring the Optical Properties of Astrophysical Dust Analogues: Instrumentation and Methods" ." Applied Optics, 50 (21): 4115-4123 [10.1364/AO.50.004115]

    Brief Bio

    Giuseppe Cataldo leads the planetary protection efforts of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS). His expertise is in the design, testing and management of space systems, gained through 10+ years at NASA and earning his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

    Giuseppe has contributed to a variety of NASA missions and projects such as:

    • JWST, the James Webb Space Telescope, for which he spearheaded the development of a Bayesian-based model validation approach and uncertainty quantification framework that led to drastic reductions in the time and cost of the required analysis cycles with superior results when compared to state-of-the-art methodologies. For further details, see here.
    • EXCLAIM, the EXperiment for Cryogenic Large-Aperture Intensity Mapping, a far-infrared balloon-borne telescope, whose development he led as chief engineer,
    • PRIME, the PRime-focus Infrared Microlensing Experiment, whose near-infrared camera development he led as chief engineer,
    • ATLAST, the Advanced-Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope, now known as LUVOIR,
    • OSIRIS-REx, the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer,
    • Micro-X, the High-Resolution Microcalorimeter X-ray Imaging Rocket,
    • feasibility and multidisciplinary optimization studies of instrumentation for space telescopes (e.g., Micro-Spec), payloads for Earth-imaging satellites, and advanced concepts for lunar exploration.

    He first joined NASA in 2009 fully sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) as one of the two European students selected for the NASA Academy, NASA's premiere leadership program for talented students. During the program, he was one of the select recipients of the John Mather Nobel Scholar Award.

    Giuseppe is fond of space policy and contributes to public outreach and educational activities for young students, professionals and the general public in a variety of settings around the world. He speaks six languages and in his spare time, he enjoys playing violin and piano, swimming, hiking, skiing, sailing, reading, traveling and hanging out with his friends.

    Selected Publications

    Refereed

    Cataldo, G., E. Qian, and J. Auclair. 2022. "Multifidelity uncertainty quantification and model validation of large-scale multidisciplinary systems." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 8 (03): [10.1117/1.jatis.8.3.038001]

    Switzer, E. R., E. M. Barrentine, G. Cataldo, et al. T. Essinger-Hileman, P. A. Ade, C. J. Anderson, A. Barlis, J. Beeman, N. Bellis, A. D. Bolatto, P. C. Breysse, B. T. Bulcha, L.-R. Chevres-Fernanadez, C. Cho, J. A. Connors, N. Ehsan, J. Glenn, J. Golec, J. P. Hays-Wehle, L. A. Hess, A. E. Jahromi, T. Jenkins, M. O. Kimball, A. J. Kogut, L. N. Lowe, P. Mauskopf, J. McMahon, M. Mirzaei, H. Moseley, J. Mugge-Durum, O. Noroozian, T. M. Oxholm, T. Parekh, U.-L. Pen, A. R. Pullen, M. Rahmani, M. M. Ramirez, F. Roselli, K. Shire, G. Siebert, A. K. Sinclair, R. S. Somerville, R. Stephenson, T. R. Stevenson, P. Timbie, J. Termini, J. Trenkamp, C. Tucker, E. Visbal, C. G. Volpert, E. J. Wollack, S. Yang, and L. Y. Yung. 2021. "Experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping: instrument design." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 7 (04): [10.1117/1.jatis.7.4.044004]

    Wollack, E., G. Cataldo, K. Miller, and M. Quijada. 2020. "Infrared properties of high-purity silicon." Optics Letters 45 (17): 4935-4938 [10.1364/OL.393847]

    Cataldo, G., E. M. Barrentine, B. T. Bulcha, et al. N. Ehsan, L. A. Hess, O. Noroozian, T. R. Stevenson, E. J. Wollack, S. H. Moseley, and E. R. Switzer. 2019. "Second-generation Micro-Spec: A compact spectrometer for far-infrared and submillimeter space missions." Acta Astronautica 162 155-159 [10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.06.012]

    Bulcha, B. T., G. Cataldo, T. R. Stevenson, et al. K. U-Yen, S. H. Moseley, and E. J. Wollack. 2018. "Electromagnetic Design of a Magnetically Coupled Spatial Power Combiner." Journal of Low Temperature Physics 193 777-785 [10.1007/s10909-018-1923-2]

    Cataldo, G., M. B. Niedner, D. J. Fixsen, and S. H. Moseley. 2017. "Model-based thermal system design optimization for the James Webb Space Telescope." Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 3 (4): 044202 [10.1117/1.JATIS.3.4.044002]

    Cataldo, G., and E. J. Wollack. 2016. "Submillimeter and far-infrared dielectric properties of thin films." Proc. SPIE 9914, Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VIII 99142W [10.1117/12.2232648]

    Cataldo, G., E. M. Barrentine, A. D. Brown, et al. S. H. Moseley, K. U-Yen, and E. J. Wollack. 2016. "Fabrication and characterization of superconducting resonators." Journal of Visualized Experiments 111 e53868 [10.3791/53868]

    Cataldo, G., E. J. Wollack, A. D. Brown, and K. H. Miller. 2016. "Infrared dielectric properties of low-stress silicon oxide." Optics Letters 41 (7): 1364-1367 [10.1364/OL.41.001364]

    Cataldo, G., S. H. Moseley, and E. J. Wollack. 2015. "A four-pole power-combiner design for far-infrared and submillimeter spectroscopy." Acta Astronautica 114 (C): 54-59 [10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.04.002]

    Cataldo, G., E. J. Wollack, E. Barrentine, et al. A. D. Brown, S. H. Moseley, and K. U-Yen. 2015. "Analysis and calibration techniques for superconducting resonators." Review of Scientific Instruments 86 (1): 013103 [10.1063/1.4904972]

    Cataldo, G., M. Chodas, P. Dave, et al. A. Dixit, S. Hall, R. Harris, D. Hayhurst, F. Mier-Hicks, C. Jewison, J.-D. Ioana, B. Karlow, B. McCarthy, A. Owens, E. Peters, M. Shaw, D. Sternberg, K. Voelbel, and M. Wu. 2014. "Tradespace Investigation of a Telescope Architecture for Next-generation Space Astronomy and Exploration." MIT Technical Reports SSL (13-14): [http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/92407]

    Cataldo, G., W.-T. Hsieh, W.-C. Huang, et al. S. H. Moseley, T. R. Stevenson, and E. J. Wollack. 2014. "Micro-Spec: an ultracompact, high-sensitivity spectrometer for far-infrared and submillimeter astronomy." Applied Optics 53 (6): 1094-1102 [10.1364/AO.53.001094]

    Richey, C. R., R. E. Kinzer, G. Cataldo, et al. E. J. Wollack, J. A. Nuth, D. J. Benford, R. F. Silverberg, and S. A. Rinehart. 2013. "Optical Properties of Iron Silicates in the Infrared to Millimeter as a Function of Wavelength and Temperature." The Astrophysical Journal 770 (46): 1-12 [10.1088/0004-637X/770/1/46]

    Cataldo, G., J. A. Beall, H.-M. Cho, et al. B. McAndrew, M. D. Niemack, and E. J. Wollack. 2012. ""Infrared dielectric properties of low-stress silicon nitride" ." Optics Letters 37 (20): 4200-4202 [10.1364/OL.37.004200]

    Rinehart, S. A., D. J. Benford, G. Cataldo, et al. E. Dwek, R. Henry, R. E. Kinzer, J. A. Nuth, R. F. Silverberg, C. Wheeler, and E. J. Wollack. 2011. ""Measuring the Optical Properties of Astrophysical Dust Analogues: Instrumentation and Methods" ." Applied Optics 50 (21): 4115-4123 [10.1364/AO.50.004115]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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    • Last Updated: 03/24/2023