Resume & CV

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Education

California Institute of Technology, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Physics

Sep 2019 – Present

  • Thesis: Precision Control in Gravitational Physics: From LIGO to GQuEST
  • Research Fields: Optimal Controls, Quantum Sensing, Laser Stabilization, Optical Cavities

California Institute of Technology, Master of Science (M.S.), Physics

Sep 2019 – June 2024

  • Research Fields: Digital Filtering, CCDs, Quantization Noise, Controls, SysID, Interferometry

Georgetown University, Scientiae Baccalaureatum (B.S.), Physics

Aug 2017 – May 2019

  • Thesis: Brownian Thermal Noise in AlGaAs and Its Implications for LIGO's Sensitivity
  • Research Fields: Optics, Thermal Coatings, Gravitational Waves, Advanced Interferometry

Experience

Graduate Researcher, California Institute of Technology

The LIGO Lab & McCuller Quantum Optics Lab

Oct 2017 – Present

  • Designed and implemented optimal H-infinity bounded LQG control algorithms for LIGO (noise reductions: orders of magnitude).

  • Built in-vacuum high-finesse optical cavities for laser phase noise suppression and frequency stabilization (Rb saturated absorption).
  • Modeled and helped build four coupled optical cavities targeting 60 dB optical isolation with a stable pass band.
  • Developed organization-wide Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) agent (Python, SQL, custom vector DBs). (ligolabrador.com)

Optics Researcher, American University

LIGO Optical Development Lab

Oct 2016 – Aug 2019

  • Characterized Brownian thermal noise in amorphous & crystalline coatings via mechanical ringdown; informed LIGO upgrade roadmap.

  • Engineered material testing protocols with COMSOL (FEA) to optimize coating architectures and predict thermal noise.
  • First decomposition of thermal loss angle in multilayer GaAs/AlGaAs coatings into principal components.
  • Mentored junior students; contributed to NSF & LIGO outreach events.

Visiting Research Fellow, Harvard University

The Stubbs Lab

Apr 2018 – Sep 2018

  • Developed the Overall Sky Emission Line Observing and Tracking Spectrograph (OSELOTS) for the Vera Rubin Observatory ecosystem.

  • Architected full data acquisition, control, and analysis software stack for rugged field deployment.
  • Built automated FITS image analysis pipeline for astronomical data interpretation.

Sailing Director & Lifeguard, Portsmouth Parks and Recreation

July 2015 – Aug 2016

  • Created and ran the sailing program at Portsmouth beaches. Organized and taught more than 50 children how to sail.

Awards and Fellowships

  • Joseph W. Serene Medal, Georgetown University (June 2019)

  • LIGO First Place Poster Prize, LIGO Lab at Caltech (Mar 2018)

  • Research Grant, NASA DC Space Grant Consortium (May 2017) – Research in Gravitational Physics and Related Projects

  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant, American University (Apr 2017)

  • STEAM Scholar Medal, Portsmouth Department of Education (June 2015)

  • Recognition of Achievement, Governor of Rhode Island Gina M. Raimondo (May 2015)

  • Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America (Apr 2012)

Publications

  • Ian A. O. MacMillan and Lee P. McCuller. Robust Bilinear-Noise-Optimal Control for Gravitational Wave Detectors: A Mixed LQG/H-Infinity Approach. 2025.

  • Sander M. Vermeulen, Torrey Cullen, Daniel Grass, Ian A. O. MacMillan, et al. Photon-Counting Interferometry to Detect Geontropic Space-Time Fluctuations with GQuEST. Phys. Rev. X, 15:011034, Feb 2025.

  • Ian A. O. MacMillan, Gregory M. Harry, Andri M. Gretarsson, et al. Experimental Uncertainty in Mechanical Quality Factor and Implications for LIGO Thermal Noise. 2018.

  • Steven D. Penn, Maya M. Kinley-Hanlon, Ian A. O. MacMillan, et al. Mechanical Ringdown Studies of Large-area Substrate-transferred GaAs/AlGaAs Crystalline Coatings. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 36(4):C15–C21, Apr 2019.

Presentations

LIGO/Virgo Collaboration Meeting, Melbourn, Australia

Mar 2025

The State of Art in H-Norm Synthesis Optimal Controls

QuRIOUS Collaboration Meeting, Pasadena, CA

Mar 2024

Laser Noise and Its Mitigation in GQuEST

Caltech Candidacy, Pasadena, CA

Feb 2024

LIGO to GQuEST

LIGO/Virgo Collaboration Meeting, Toyama, Japan

Sep 2023

Beyond H-2 and H-infinity: Robust Optimal Controllers for LIGO

LIGO/Virgo Collaboration Meeting, Evanston, IL

Mar 2023

H-2, Infinity, and Beyond: Optimal Bilinear Noise in LIGO (Remote)

APS March Meeting, Las Vegas, NV

Mar 2023

Opimal Bilinear Controls Noise for LIGO (P)

Microsoft, Redmond, WA

Oct 2021

Using Minecraft Education Edition as an Outreach tool for LIGO (Remote)

Russian Science Festival, Moscow, Russia

Oct 2020

LIGO and Astronomy (Remote)

LIGO/Virgo Collaboration Meeting, Warsaw, Poland

Sep 2019

Experimental Distribution of Mechanical Quality Factor

APS March Meeting, Boston, MA

Mar 2019

Experimental Distribution of Mechanical Quality Factor

APS Mid-Atlantic Section Meeting, College Park, MD

Nov 2018

Measurement and Analysis of Uncertainty in Mechanical Quality Factor and Implications for LIGO Thermal Noise Estimation

LIGO AlGaAs Workshop, Washington, DC

Jun 2018

FEA Modeling of Defects in AlGaAs Samples

LIGO/Virgo Collaboration Meeting, Sonoma, CA

Mar 2018

Quality Factor Analysis in Thermal Noise Experiments (P)

Undergraduate Research Fair, Washington, DC

Oct 2018

Thermal Noise in LIGO (P)

Teaching

Quantum Hardware, Teaching Assistant, California Institute of Technology

Apr 2023 – Jun 2023

Advanced Physics Lab, Teaching Assistant, California Institute of Technology

Jan 2020 – Mar 2020

Statistical Mechanics, Teaching Assistant, Georgetown University

Jan 2019 – May 2019

MCAT & Physics, Private Tutor, Georgetown University & Caltech

Jan 2016 – Present

Principles of Physics I, Teaching Assistant, American University

Sep 2016 – Dec 2016

Public Outreach

Watson Lecture Program, Pasadena, CA

Nov 2024

Hamilton Elementary Science Night, Pasadena, CA

Mar 2024

Caltech Future Program, Pasadena, CA

Sep 2022, 2025

Russian National Science Festival, Moscow, Russia (Remote)

Oct 2020

Optics Olympiad, American University, Washington, DC

Feb 2018, 2017

NSF Outreach Booth, USA Science & Engineering Festival, Washington, DC

Apr 2018

LIGO Outreach Booth

American Physical Society Meeting, Washington, DC

Apr 2018

American Astronomical Society Meeting, Prince George's County, MD

Jan 2018

Astronomy on the Mall, Washington, DC

Jun 2017, 2018, 2019

Technical Skills

Coding Languages

Python, Java, MATLAB, Mathematica, Bash, HTML, SQL, and LaTeX

Software & Tools

COMSOL Multiphysics (FEA), SolidWorks, Inventor, Finesse, OptoCad, Inkscape, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Final Cut Pro X

Controls

Optimal & State-Space Control, LQR/LQG, H-infinity Bounded LQG, Riccati/Lyapunov Methods, PID, Frequency-Domain Weighting

Optics

Interferometers, Optical Cavities, Spectrometers, Micro-Resonators, Free Space & Fiber Optics, Optomechanics, HR/AR Coatings, and CCD Cameras

Lab Equipment

FPGAs, RF Electronics, Signal Analyzers, Lock-in Amplifiers, Oscilloscopes, Low Noise Lasers, and Additive Manufacturing

Machine Learning

TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, Pandas, Reinforcement Learning, RAG / Agent Development, and Vector Datastores

Profesional Memberships

QuRIOUS Collaboration

2022 – Present

LIGO Scientific Collaboration

2017 – Present

American Physical Society

2016 – Present

American Astronomical Society

2018 – Present

American Association of Physics Teachers

2015 – Present

National Geographic Society

2015 – Present