About

Aloha mai kāua!  ʻO Ian koʻu inoa.  No Columbus, Ohio mai au, akā noho au i Hawaiʻi nei ʻumikūmākolu makahiki.

Currently my work is heavily focused on the application of Deep Neural Networks to science goals and instrumentation.

  • Simulation of distributed aperture telescopes for high-contrast imaging with DNN-based, focal-plane piston-tip-tilt correction
  • Direct prediction of MHD properties from synthesized, DKIST analog spectropolarimetric data

Between undergrad at UH Hilo and before starting as a grad student at Mānoa, I worked at IfA – Maui doing helioseismology research, scientific programming, instrumentation, and working on technology commercialization efforts.  I’ve been involved with (and co-founded) a handful of startups, and have always tried to keep a foot in industry, most recently as a Machine Learning Engineer.

  • LSSTC (Vera C. Rubin Observatory) Data Science Fellow
  • Akamai internship alumi (built KeOLA for Keck Observatory)
  • ISEE PDP alumni (taught Akamai short course)

Here’s a cool video about some of my research! Cunnyngham, Emilio, Kuhn, Scholl, Bush. (2017) Poynting-Robertson-like Drag at the Sun’s Surface. Physical Review Letters, Volume 118, Issue 5, id.051102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.051102

Ian Cunnyngham

Graduate Student
B.S. Astronomy, B.A Physics 2012, University of Hawaiʻi Hilo
IfA Mānoa,