Introducing Dev Null, Research Software Engineer
Mx Dev Null (they/them) is a research software engineer working at the intersection of high-performance computing and low-frequency radio astronomy. They are based at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA) and contribute to AusSRC through the development of large-scale data-processing systems for the SKA-Low telescope and the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA).
Holding a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Computer Science, Dev has been embedded in radio astronomy operations and software development for several years, collaborating with astronomers and engineers to prepare the data-processing infrastructure that will power the SKA-Low era.
From 2021 to 2024, they were seconded to the MWA Operations team, supporting the development of a new Rust-based preprocessing pipeline (Birli), and the transition of a GPU accelerated calibration and peeling framework for direction-dependent corrections and ionospheric modeling (MWA Hyperdrive) from CUDA to HIP on the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre.
During this time, Dev worked closely with Epoch of Reionization (EoR) scientists to deliver an improved upper limit on the EoR power spectrum at redshift 6.5 and supported the early commissioning of a new correlator system upgrade.
Dev brings their experience with precursor data processing, containerization, and HPC packaging systems such as Spack and Nextflow to the Distributed Data and Compute value stream in the SRCNet Agile Release Train. Beyond their technical contributions, they are passionate about bridging the gap between astronomers and software infrastructure and fostering engagement with scientific data through visualization.