Konstantinos Horaites
Space Scientist
CV PUBLICATIONS CODE
About Me
I'm a physics postdoc at the University of Helsinki, working in the Vlasiator team (PI Prof. Minna Palmroth). I use computer simulations to assess the impact of a large solar storm on satellites and electrical power grids.
Before moving abroad, I did my first postdoc at LASP in Boulder, CO, USA as a member of Laila Andersson's group. There I studied the kinetic physics of electrons in Mars's magnetosheath.
I received my PhD in Physics (2019) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I wrote my thesis, "Theory and Observations of Runaway Electrons in the Solar Wind", under the advisement of Prof. Stanislav Boldyrev.
I got my start at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab, where I studied the solar wind as part of Prof. Stuart Bale's group.
Teaching
Teaching Assistant (University of Helsinki): FYS2016/2017--Electrodynamics, Spring 2024 (course website)
Lecturer (CU-Boulder): Astronomy 2600--Intro to Scientific Programming, Summer 2020 (course website)
Teaching Assistant (UW Madison): Physics 202--Electricity and Magnetism, Fall 2015-Summer 2017
Data
As part of my thesis project I restored the high-resolution data from the Wind satellite's SWE Strahl detector. The data are now archived on CDAWeb, where you can also browse summary GIFs like this.
Outreach
A memorable and *mostly* accurate conversation about Parker Solar Probe, UFOs, Star Wars, and more (note: some explicit language).
Other
Check out the board game I co-designed, titled "Co-op"! Published through the Gamecrafter, LLC website.
