About me

I’m an experimental scientist, interested in measuring atomic-scale vibrations and uncovering how they affect a diverse number of quantum phenomena. I’m currently a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, working with Prof. Ryan Hadt on quantum information science.

I love the hands-on, experimental side of science. Designing experiments to characterize the sound waves of violins or to measure how atoms vibrate at specific frequencies in materials. Over the past years, I worked at different laboratories and learned several experimental techniques that use lasers, X-ray beams of synchrotrons, or neutrons to probe matter.

Education

PhD in Materials Science at Caltech, Pasadena, CA - June 2023

MS in Space Engineering at Caltech, Pasadena, CA - June 2017

MS in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich, Switzerland - June 2016

BS in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich, Switzerland - September 2014

I was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil...

...but my academic career started later as a mechanical engineering student in Zurich, curious to understand how the sound of instruments is created by acoustic vibrations. By measuring how each vibrational mode creates the characteristic sound of violins, I helped design a new kind of chin rest that minimizes sound distortions while maximizing playing comfort.

My passion for space exploration would later bring me to Southern California, where I applied my knowledge of vibrations to study space structures. I became involved in a project to build large space-based solar power panels, that collect solar energy in space and beam it down power to Earth through microwaves. My role was to study how the nonlinear vibrational behavior of such large structures would affect their mechanical stability.

Then, I took a turn. I became fascinated by quantum mechanics and wanted to be involved in fundamental science. Through a PhD in material science, I studied how atomic vibrations create entropy in materials and are responsible for storing energy and heat in materials.

Now, after another turn, I’m on a chemistry journey. Investigating how atomic vibrations of molecules are central in quantum information science.