Komal Bali

Komal Bali

INTEGRATED BACHELORS AND MASTERS STUDENT,

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES,

IISER MOHALI, INDIA

Email:

komalbali3011@gmail.com

ms18192@iisermohali.ac.in

Hello! I'm Komal

I am a Master's student from India, pursuing my Integrated Bachelor's and Master's degree (BS-MS Dual Degree) at the Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India. Currently, I am working on my Master's thesis project on mitigating solar contamination in NEID (the extremely precise radial velocity instrument to be developed through NASA and the NSF’s joint NN-EXPLORE exoplanet science program) with Dr. Joe Ninan at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai.

EXPERIENCE

June, 2022 --Present

Master's Thesis Student

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai, India

Supervisor: Dr. Joe Philip Ninan, Reader at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai & formerly Assistant Research Professor at Pennsylvania State University, USA and,

Supervised Locally by Dr. Jasjeet Singh Bagla, Professor at Indian Insitute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali:

The main aim is to mitigate the effect of moonlight contamination in spectroscopic searches for extrasolar planets. I will be working on actual data taken by the NEID Spectrograph to estimate the range of RV measurement error induced by scattered sunlight contamination compared to the predictions in Roy et al. 2020. I will demonstrate the effectiveness of different correction techniques, using both simultaneous spectrometer sky fibers and broadband imaging via coherent fiber imaging bundles, that are expected to reduce this source of error to below the photon-noise limit of typical stellar observations.

January, 2022 --Present

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Supervisor: Dr. Jason Soderblom, Research Scientist at Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS):
This project involves analyzing the entire Cassini VIMS dataset to characterize spatial and temporal variations in the transmission of Titan’s atmosphere around the 2-micron “transmission window.”

June, 2021 --May 2022

Tartu Observatory, Estonia

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Supervisors: Dr. Mihkel Kama, Assistant Professor at University College London & Senior Research Fellow at Tartu Observatory, and Tõnis Eenmäe, Research Fellow at Tartu Observatory:

This project focuses on fitting the transit light curves of exoplanets. It is based on Mandel & Agol's paper on "Analytic light curves for planetary transit searches." It involves exploring various Python packages to find the suitable one for fitting the data of various transits observed from Tartu Observatory, mainly the one of TrES-3b.

March, 2021 --May 2021

Undergraduate Research Assistant

University of Arkansas, USA

Supervisors: Dr. Vincent Chevrier, Assistant Research Professor at Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, and Dr. Caitlin Ahrens, Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: This work involves working on the exoplanets and specifically modeling exoplanetary atmospheres concerning Titan (Saturn's moon). And exploring the formation/stability of Titan's atmosphere in regards to different conditions and forming hypotheses for the stability of a Titan-like atmosphere compared to other exoplanets.

December, 2020 --January 2021

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India

Supervisor: Dr. Kulinder Pal Singh, Visiting Professor, IISER Mohali:
I studied telescopes and detectors for UV and X-rays, AstroSat, India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space telescope, and the magnetic Cataclysmic Variable Stars. Learned the use of the ds9 display software program and IRAF image analysis package and will work on the UVIT data from the astrobrowse website of ISSDC.

EDUCATION

2018--Present

Integrated Bachelor's and Master's

BS-MS Dual Degree, Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, India

2017

Intermediate

Passed Intermediate from CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), Bhai Nand Lal Public School, India

2015

Matriculation

Passed Matriculation from ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education), Mount Carmel School Jindwari, India

COURSES

Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics of Fluids,

Nuclear & Particle Physics,

Solid State Physics, Atomic & Molecular Physics

Introduction to Data Science,

Introduction to Python, Machine Learning,

Computational Methods in Physics 1 & 2,

Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics,

Electrodynamics, Statistical Mechanics,

Advanced Quantum Mechanics

Mathematical Methods for Physicists 1,

Nonlinear dynamics, chaos, and complex systems, Nuclear Physics Lab.

Advanced Optics & Spectroscopy Lab,

Condensed Matter Physics Lab,

Advanced Electronics & Instrumentation Lab,

SKILLS

Experienced in Python, C/C++, and JAVA.

Efficient in using LaTeX, Overleaf.

English (Full Professional Proficiency)

Hindi & Punjabi (Native Proficiency)

German (Elementary Proficiency)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Recipient of undergraduate scholarship.

Topper Award in the 12th grade at school

TOEFL ibt Test Score: 104/120

Gold Medalist & Student of the Year Award in the 10th grade at school

ACTIVITIES

Outreach: Women In Physics and Astronomy

Senior Editor of the students’ magazine Manthan of IISER Mohali. Even I write at times, recently written articles: How Art Made The (Dis)Balance Shift, and Shattering the Glass Ceiling: The Supernova Foundation.

Hosted a webinar on The Supernova Foundation (a mentoring and networking programme for women in physics) by Dr. Michelle Lochner, on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022

Hosted a panel discussion of women faculty of Astrophysicists in my institute on the Women in Astronomy as part of GATI, the Indian Government’s Initiative for ’Gender Advancement for Transformation of Institutions’ in February 2022.

Currently conducting a survey for knowing the variations in the opinion of different genders in studying at my institute, especially in male-dominated Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy.

Astronomy Related Activities

An invited speaker for the Astronomy Symposium by the Astronomy Club of IISER Mohali in February 2022, wherein I highlighted my research work, answered the queries about my research work and exoplanets, and gave some tips to the juniors about pursuing research in Astronomy.

Active member of the Astronomy Club of IISER Mohali

Visited the Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu, Estonia, and learned about the usage of their telescopes.

Workshops/ Conferences Attended:

Other Activities

Volunteer at Translators without Borders, a non-profit translation organization.

Member of my college's Girls' Football Team, Drama Club, Punjabi Folk Dance Bhangra Group. Love doing Aerobics!

Occasionally pen down some thoughts into short poems via this Instagram handle.

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