Reshma Krishnan Sudha

PhD student in the “Space Interferometry” group

What is your current position at our institute?

I’m a PhD student in the Space Interferometry group.

What is your academic education?

  • Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication
  • Master of Science in Space Sciences and Technologies

How and when did you choose to do physics?

When I was doing my bachelors it became clearer to me that I enjoyed and was fascinated in learning space science and so I transitioned my study path in my masters followed by my PhD.

Did you have someone who acted as a role model or mentor to you in the past, or does so in the present?

It's hard to mention one particular person as a role model. It’s many people I hear of or meet along the way who inspire me.

What is the most important thing you learned from them?

My most important take away is to be consistent in pursuing what you want to achieve.

Please describe your research in language understandable to scientists from other fields.

GRACE and its successor GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) are two highly successful satellite gravimetry missions for Earth observation. Satellite gravimetry, which involves the measurement of spatial and temporal changes in the gravity field caused by mass variations from space, provides a unique opportunity to study mass transport and improve our understanding of the Earth system. Changes in the mass distribution within and between Earth's atmosphere, oceans, groundwater, and ice sheets serve as fundamental indicators of the large-scale dynamics of the planet. In GRACE-FO, the Laser Ranging Interferometer was used as a technology demonstrator alongside the established microwave-based ranging measurement. It uses laser interferometry to measure distance variations between satellites with nanometer precision. My current work lies in the in-flight characterization of the steering mirror, which is an important component in laser link acquisition procedures and also in the correction of spacecraft misalignment. My other focus is on building a breadboard optical bench assembly for optical beat note generation with flight-like beam parameters.

Please let us know why you chose the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics for your research.

I first came to this Max Planck Institute as a master’s student. The friendliness of the people here, the interaction and exchange of science and ideas, the support, all add up to make this the best place to do research, and the people here are doing really cool stuff!

What would you recommend to a young woman wanting to start a career in physics?

I think it’s scary to start anything new but unless you give it a try you wouldn’t know if it’s exciting for you or not. Physics is a pretty interesting field and I’m sure you will be fascinated to learn if you stay curious.

Go to Editor View