Sergio Leon-Saval

**Sergio Leon-Saval** is a Professor at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, and holds leadership roles as Director of the Sydney Astrophotonics Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) and Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS). He earned his PhD from the University of Bath (UK, 2006) and has been at the University of Sydney since 2007. His research focuses on photonics, astrophotonics, optical fibres, and astronomical instrumentation, with over 90 journal articles and 220 conference papers, yielding 10,000+ citations and an h-index of 49.

**Education**: PhD in Physics (University of Bath, 2006).
**Research Interests**: Optics, photonics, astrophotonics, spectroscopy, astronomical instrumentation, and optical fibre devices. Aligns with University priorities in space exploration, climate science, and communication technologies.

**Awards**: 2023 Optica Fellow, 2020 Knight’s Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, 2019 ANZOS John Love Award, and 2016 ASA Peter McGregor Prize. He has supervised 14 PhD students, 2 Masters, and 6 Honours candidates.

**Projects**: Developing photonic lanterns for ultra-precision astronomy, broadband starlight injection systems, and hyperspectral imaging for environmental monitoring. Collaborates with institutions like UNSW, AIP (Germany), and ANZOS.

**Labs/Teams**: Leads SAIL and IPOS, overseeing research prototyping and academic partnerships. Active in global initiatives like the Hector spectrograph and QB50 CubeSat projects.