Liviu has an undergraduate background in physics from Bucharest University (Romania), followed by a license in “optics, spectroscopy, plasma and lasers”. He later worked for an automation company in Bucharest. Afterwards he pursued graduate studies in instrumentation for astronomy, particularly adaptive optics, at the Université de Montréal. This granted him an engineering position in adaptive optics at the European Southern Observatory in Munich, Germany. Such instrumentation was meant for correcting in real-time the effects of the atmospheric turbulence in the astronomical images. This work led him towards identifying the best sites in terms of turbulence and transparent skies for astronomical purpose, or what is called “astronomical site testing”. In this sense he participated in the pioneering site testing work for the Canadian Arctic with a team from several Canadian Universities. Also he was involved in identifying the future location of the Caltech Thirty Meter Telescope, working with a team in South Africa. To deepen and formalize his atmospheric expertise, he pursued graduate studies in atmospheric science at UQAM in Montreal. As this research led him to work in the Arctic (at the Eureka Weather station) with a new atmospheric remote sensing instrument (a star-photometer), he’s currently pursuing a PhD program in remote sensing at the Université de Sherbrooke.
Email: Liviu.Ivanescu@usherbrooke.ca
Phone: 514-779-2708
Université de Sherbrooke