Don Figer
Director of Center for Detectors
Don Figer is Professor in the College of Science and Founder and Director of the Rochester Imaging Detector Laboratory, Center for Detectors, and the Future Photon Initiative at RIT. He previously was co-founder and Director of the Independent Detector Testing Laboratory at the Space Telescope Science Institute where he led a team to do the competitive characterization of prototype infrared detectors for the James Webb Space Telescope. He has been PI on dozens of observational astrophysics and instrumentation development programs. Dr. Figer studies massive stars, young star clusters, and the Galactic center. He identified the Pistol star as one of the most massive known. He made the first direct measurement of an upper limit to the masses of stars and has discovered more evolved massive stars and massive star clusters in the Galaxy than any other researcher. Dr. Figer has authored 300 publications with over 8,500 citations and has an h-index of 48.
Felix Warrington
Student
Felix is, along with the class of 2024, is a Senior at Sutherland. Felix enjoys listening to music, and experiencing new things.
A Yahtzee enthusiast, he's always done for some games. Above all, he loves spending time with family and his dog, Blue.
Feroze Ali
Student
Feroze Ali is a senior at Pittsford Sutherland High School, and founder of 3D Feroze, a small scale 3D printing business. His many interests include origami, cooking, design, and meeting new people!
Grady Heffernan
Student
Grady Heffernan is a student with a passion for classics, linguistics, and education. An advocate for positive change, he looks to share his ideas about education with the world. In this TEDx talk, he speaks about the urgent need for improved student representation in schools.
Hazel Glazer
Student
Hazel Glazer is a lifelong Pittsford resident and senior at Pittsford Sutherland. She plans to attend college to study English and environmental science next year. Coming from a family of teachers, she has always had a keen interest in systemic educational reform.
Quinn Cummings
Student
Quinn Cummings is a senior at Pittsford Sutherland High School. She is the President of Film Club and is pursuing a career in film.
Serena Devgun
Student
Serena Devgun is currently a senior at Pittsford Sutherland. She is interested in science and math, hoping to major in chemistry as a premedical student next year. After school she enjoys taking ballet classes, being the Vice President of ChemClub, and playing piano and the clarinet.