Gerardo Berlanga Molina: Mechanical Engineering and Optics

Here you’ll find various engineering projects, experiments, research endeavors, and more.

Astronomical Instrumentation Team

The Astronomical Instrumentation Team (AIT) at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is a laboratory that specializes in the creation of state-of-the-art scientific instruments that help researchers and scientists further comprehend our cosmos through studying topics such as galaxy formation, absorption and emission in the Circumgalactic Medium, and classification of LSST transients, to name a few.

In my time, I have been involved with the development of the Large Lenslet Array Magellan Spectrograph (LLAMAS), which was commissioned at the 6.5 m Walter Baade Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert in late 2024, as well as helping with a servicing mission for the Folded-port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE)—another facility-class instrument.

Automatic Levelling System

Preventing a changing gravity vector on the optical train.

Atmospheric Dispersion Compensator

Mitigating detrimental atmospheric effects for improved performance.

MIT Grad Classes

Graduate classes typically do not feature exams. Instead, the assignment of focus is commonly a large project that is the culmination of a semester of rigorous research and coursework. Some projects are individual work, while others are completed as a group.

2.719 Photonic Materials

Designing an H-alpha filter for Emission Nebula imaging.

2.156 AI & ML for Engineering Design

Using Machine Learning to analyze camera lenses.

2.710 Optics

Optical communication through a turbulent atmosphere.

MIT Undergrad Classes

Certain classes at MIT have large projects associated with them. From repeatable manufacturing to self-guided research to toy design, all aspects of Mechanical Engineering are critical.

2.008 Design and Manufacturing II

Learning how to mass-manufacture: DFM, Tolerancing, Drafting, Machining.

2.671 Measurement and Instrumentation

Researching, designing experiments, and analyzing data.

2.C01 Modeling Physical Systems with Machine Learning

Predicting F1 racing data with Neural ODEs

2.007 Design and Manufacturing I

Building a competition robot to complete varied tasks.

2.00B Toy Product Design

Designing an attractive and engaging toy.

A Glimpse into Gerardo’s Achievements

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