Community Member Milestones
- Welcome to Caltech:
Jim Comeau
Jim joined Caltech Facilities in May as a mechanic aide. He will support the plumbing shop with preventative maintenance and urgent service calls across campus bathrooms and labs. Prior to Caltech, Jim worked at the Lighthart Corporation and at the photo department at Disney.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Denise Mendoza
Denise joined Caltech in April as the labor relations coordinator in HR. She manages inquiries, routes requests to appropriate departments, maintains timely communication, and ensures compliance with established procedures and timelines. She serves as a point of contact for employees, union representatives, and campus partners by providing information and coordinating support.
- Celebrating a recognition:
CCID Celebration of Excellence Honorees
On May 21, the CCID's annual Celebration of Excellence honored 18 campus community members whose work and efforts promote inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility at Caltech.
- Welcome (back) to Caltech:
Amir Sadjadpour
Amir joined the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy in April as senior systems engineering lead for LIGO, bringing over two decades of experience in complex, multibillion-dollar research programs. A Caltech alumnus (MS '03, PhD '06), he has held engineering leadership roles at TMT International Observatory and has deep expertise in systems engineering, structural mechanics, and program risk management.
- Welcome (back) to Caltech:
David Catherall
David joined Caltech as a research engineer in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science in April. He will manage the development of Caltech's thermal laser evaporation/epitaxy system, perform novel materials research, and support other laboratory operations. Prior to joining as staff, he completed his PhD at Caltech in materials science.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Lianqi Wang
In April, Lianqi joined Caltech as an adaptive optics (AO) engineer, leading the design and delivery of advanced AO systems, from performance modeling and error budgeting to implementation across multidisciplinary teams. Prior to joining Caltech, Lianqi served as lead adaptive optics system engineer at the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory.