MICHAEL ALLEN NOWAK 247 Hampstead St. 77 Massachusetts Ave. Methuen, MA 01844 NE83-563 (978) 681-5478, (978) 609-4599 (cell) Cambridge, MA 02139 Internet: [email protected] (617) 253-1366, Fax: (617) 253-8084 Research Interests Observational and Theoretical High Energy Astrophysics of Neutron Stars, Galactic Black Holes, and Active Galactic Nuclei; Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics and Accretion Physics Education 9/87 { 8/92 Stanford University, Stanford, CA M.S., Ph.D., Physics 9/83 { 6/87 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA S.B., Physics Positions Deputy Group Lead, Science Data Systems, CXC-MIT 1/06 { Present Research Scientist, Chandra X-ray Science Center, MIT 9/01 { 12/05 Visiting Researcher, Dept. of Astronomy, Yale University 9/00 { 9/01 Postdoctoral Fellow & Lecturer, JILA & Dept. of APS, U. of Colorado 8/94 { 8/00 Postdoctoral Fellow, Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics 9/92 { 8/94 Professional Service Suzaku Satellite Users Group | Past member; co-wrote two Senior Review reports Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Users Group | Past member; co-wrote five Senior Review reports; three times spoke at the NASA Review of Current Missions and Programs NASA Senior Review of Archives | Panelist/reviewer for the 2008 Committee Review Panels | Reviewer for National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA Long Term Space Astrophysics (LTSA), Astrophysics Data Program (ADP), NASA Research Fel- lowship, Chandra Guest Observer, XMM Guest Observer programs; Panel Chair for Astrophysics Theory (ATP), NuSTAR Guest Observer, Swift Guest Observer, Suzaku Guest Observer, & RXTE Guest Observer programs National and International Collaborations Arcus (www.arcusxray.org) | High Resolution X-ray Grating Spectrometer, in Phase A Study for the NASA Explorers Program | Member of the Science Definition Team Spectroscopic Time Resolving Observatory for Broadband Energy X-rays (STROBE-X) | Member of the Science Working Group Lorentz Center | Co-organized a week-long workshop, \A New View of Accretion onto Sgr A*," (Jan. 2013, Leiden, the Netherlands) Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) | Co-organized a multi-day symposium event, \Accretion on Compact Objects and Fast Phenomena in the Multiwavelength Era," at the 38th COSPAR Assembly (2010, Bremen, Germany) Recent Talks 08/17 \The Ultra-fast Outflows of PG 1211+143" 16th HEAD Meeting, Sun Valley, ID 06/17 \4U 1957+11: Low Mass, Maximal Kerr Black Hole, The X-ray Universe 2017, or Neutron Star?" Rome, Italy 11/16 \Low Luminosity AGN and NGC 4258" NuSTAR Science Meeting, Pasadena, CA 06/16 \Leveraging High Resolution Spectroscopy to Understand XMM: The Next Decade, the Disk and Relativistic Iron Line of Cygnus X-1" Madrid Spain 02/16 \Are Black Holes as Simple as They Used to Be?" BU Colloquium, Boston, MA 08/14 \Hunting for the Variable Iron Line in NGC 4258" 14th HEAD Meeting, Chicago, Illinois 06/14 \The Quiescent Neutron Star and Hierarchical The X-ray Universe 2014, Triple, 4U 2129+47" Dublin, Ireland Teaching Experience High School Level: Boston and Colorado Area 2006 { Present Judge for the high school science fair Boston Regional and Massachusetts State finals. Referee for the Massachusetts high school \Science Bowl". Occasional volunteer for \Citi- zens Schools" (www.citizenschools.org/massachusetts). I routinely give presentations about the Chandra satellite and lead tours of our lab facilities for middle and high school students (≈ 200 students each summer), and for the general public during the MIT \Inde- pendent Activities Period" (IAP; each January). I am a \telementor" for Colorado high school students (www.mentoredpathways.org). MIT 2005 { 2008 Mentored for \The Chandra Astrophysics Institute", a program to introduce astrophysical concepts to students via interactive learning and hands-on data analysis. I designed several of the analysis projects and tutored student groups over the course of their projects. Each year, the program culminated with a public presentation by the students. Undergraduate Level: MIT 1987; 2003 { Present Co-taught an intensive Freshman level Classical Mechanics course for non-majors during MIT's Independent Activity Period; tutor for Freshman Electricity and Magnetism. I supervise undergraduate student research projects (e.g., Trowbridge et al. 2007). I have guest lectured for the senior-level Topics in Astrophysics seminar course (8.971) on astrophysical black holes (Spring 2007), and on radiation processes (Fall 2007). Dominican College (Orangeburg, New York) 2000 I designed and taught the final 3 weeks of an introductory astronomy survey course. University of Colorado 1999 I guest lectured for Prof. Mitchell Begelman's (non-majors) course on black holes. Stanford University 1990 { 1992 Several times I was a Recitation Instructor for Freshman year Classical Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism, as well as for the Astronomy survey course for non-majors. Each course required preparing a weekly one hour recitation section, holding office hours, and the latter course duties included organizing night visits to the student observatory. Graduate Level: International 2009 { Present I have prepared lectures for and mentored graduate students in hands-on X-ray data analysis projects at two COSPAR Capacity Workshops, one in Jiangsu Province (2013; 35 students from China, India, and Turkey), and one in Viedma, Argentina (2017; 26 students from across South America). My most recent lecture materials can be found at: http://donfaca.wixsite.com/cospar-viedma2017/talks-projects In January 2014, I gave a similar set of lectures in Pune, India to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who planned to work with the Indian Astrosat UV/X-ray satellite. I have facilitated interactive learning and lead hands-on tutorials on X-ray data analysis at the 1st & 2nd Summer Schools on Multiwavelength Astronomy. Students from 20 different countries and 5 different continents participated. My lecture materials can be found via: http://www.black-hole.eu/index.php/schools-workshops-and-conferences I also taught at a workshop on \High-resolution X-ray spectroscopic software and tools" in Madrid, Spain (Spring 2016): http://delphineporquet.wixsite.com/x-raytools Chandra X-ray Science Center 2003 { Present As part of my responsibilities with the Chandra X-ray Science Center (CXC), I participate in workshops and summer schools wherein we teach graduate students and postdocs the basics of X-ray astronomy, as well as how to use our satellite software. I give lectures on the physics of X-ray binaries and the use of data analysis software. Samples of my lecture materials can be found via: http://cxc.harvard.edu/xrayschool/program.html Additionally, we assist students with hands-on data analysis exercises. Two exercises that I wrote (\Spectral Analysis of High Resolution X-ray Binary Data", and \Timing Analysis of X-ray Lightcurves") can be found at: http://cxc.harvard.edu/xrayschool/analysis/index.html Yale University 2000 I guest lectured one week for the High Energy Astrophysics graduate course. University of Colorado 1994 { 2000 I designed and taught a full semester course on High Energy Astrophysics (Spring 1997). Topics included: Compton and synchrotron radiation processes; shockwaves and Fermi acceleration; accretion disk structure; galactic binaries and AGN; neutron stars and pul- sars; gamma-ray bursters. I co-organized a graduate seminar course on black hole physics (Spring 1999), and frequently lectured for the Astrophysical Processes course (1994 { 2000). Stanford University 1992 I was a grader and substitute lecturer for an introductory course on General Relativity. Principal Investigator Grants and Proposals 28. \NuSTAR Observations of the Low Luminosity AGN NGC 4258," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Christopher Reynolds (Maryland), Sera Markoff (Amsterdam), Victoria Grinberg (MIT), Kendrah Murphy (Skidmore) NuSTAR Guest Observer Program, 2015. 27. \What is the Orbital Period of the Hierarchical Triple Candidate 4U 2129+47?," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Mathias K¨uhnel,J¨ornWilms (Bamberg), Victoria Grinberg (MIT), Katja Pottschmidt (GSFC) Chandra Guest Observer Program, 2014-2015. 26. \Probing Black Hole Disk Atmospheres with EPIC/RGS Observations of 4U 1957+11," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Norbert Schulz (MIT), Joey Neilsen (Boston University), J¨ornWilms (Bamberg), XMM-Newton Guest Observer Program, 2013. 25. \Leveraging High Resolution Spectra to Understand the Disk and Relativistic Iron Line of Cygnus X-1," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Norbert Schulz (MIT), J¨ornWilms (Bamberg), Katja Pottschmidt (GSFC), NASA Astrophysics Data Program, 2012-2015. 24. \A Further Drop into Quiescence by the Neutron Star and Possible Hierarchical Triple 4U 2129+47," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Deepto Chakrabarty (MIT), Enrico Bozzo (ISDC), Chandra Guest Observer Program, 2011-2012. 23. \4U 1957+11: The Most Rapidly Spinning Galactic Black Hole?," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: J¨ornWilms (Bamberg), Norbert Schulz, Li Ji (MIT), Jon Miller, Dipankar Maitra (U. Michigan), Suzaku Guest Observer Program, 2010-2011. 22. \Hunting for the Variable Iron Line in NGC 4258," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: Christopher S. Reynolds (U. Maryland), Kendrah Murphy (Skidmore), J¨ornWilms (Bamberg), Norbert Schulz (MIT), Suzaku Guest Observer Program, 2010-2011. 21. \Deep Chandra Observations of the Black Hole LMC X-1," PI: Michael A. Nowak (MIT), CoIs: J¨ornWilms, Manfred Hanke (Bamberg), Norbert Schulz, Claude Canizares, Ron Remil- lard (MIT), Chandra Guest Observer Program,