News
30.07.2026
Successful PhD Defence: Samuel Pliego Caballero
On 22 July 2026, Samuel Pliego Caballero successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Development Activities of the Frame Processor for the Athena Wide Field Imager Instrument" at the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Tübingen. His work represents a significant contribution to the development of the detector electronics for the Wide Field Imager (WFI), one of the key scientific instruments of ESA's future flagship X-ray observatory NewAthena.
During his doctoral studies, Dr. Pliego Caballero played a leading role in the conception, implementation and validation of the Frame Processor, the mission-critical onboard electronics responsible for processing the enormous data streams produced by the WFI detectors in real time. His research combined advanced FPGA firmware design, detector electronics, real-time data processing and system integration, resulting in the successful demonstration of a complete processing architecture capable of meeting the demanding requirements of the mission. Importantly, the technologies developed during his doctoral work are now being incorporated into the engineering models of the WFI, making his contribution an integral part of the instrument currently under construction.
Dr. Pliego Caballero's work not only advances the technological readiness of NewAthena but also provides a valuable reference for future developments in space-based X-ray instrumentation.
The Institute warmly congratulates Dr. Samuel Pliego Caballero on this outstanding achievement and wishes him every success in his future space-related career.
Share
