Alberto Conti (born September 27, 1966), is an astrophysicist and the Vice President and General Manager of the ''Civil Space Strategic Business Unit'' (SBU) at BAE Systems Inc. He is one of the creators of the GoogleSky concept, of the idea of astronomical outreach at South by SouthWest 2013 and of the James Webb Space Telescope iBook. He is also the Executive Producer of the Emmy Winning CNN Filmsbr>The Hunt for Planet B

Professional career

Conti was born in

Palmanova Palmanova () is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. Th ...

, Italy. He received his

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

degree in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from the University of Trieste, Italy, with a thesis titled "Binary Galaxies in the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)

Redshift Survey In astronomy, a redshift survey is a astronomical surveys, survey of a section of the sky to measure the redshift of astronomical objects: usually galaxies, but sometimes other objects such as galaxy clusters or quasars. Using Hubble's law, the ...

." During the following two years, he worked on the largest sample (at the time) of optical rotation curves of galaxies at the International School for Advanced Studies ( SISSA), in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. There he developed algorithms to automate the extraction of physical parameters from galactic rotation curves, paving the way for the analysis of much larger samples. He has since specialized in statistical methods, computational astrophysics, and large datasets. in 2000 Conti graduated from the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

with a Ph.D. thesis on correlating galactic properties with the physics of galaxy formation. He then became a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

where he focused on the star formation history of galaxies. In 2003, Conti joined the

Space Telescope Science Institute The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the ...

(STScI) to co-lead the development of a new archive for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer ( GALEX). He integrated this effort with work on the National Virtual Observatory. In January 2005, he became Branch Manager for the Astronomy Tools and Applications (ASTTA) branch at STScI's Engineering System and Software Division. ASTTA develops some of the best-known software products for the astronomical community, such as Astronomer Proposal Tool, PyRAF, and Multidrizzle. At the 15th annual ADASS conference in October 2005, Conti became interested in the

Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

software that allows anyone to browse

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

with a simple point-and-click interface. Back at STScI he sent a proposal to John Hanke, the Head of Google Earth and

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

, to extend the Google Earth interface to space-based data. Hanke agreed to have Brian McClendon establish a project plan for such a product, called GoogleSky. In September 2006, Conti became Chief Engineer for the Data Management System at STScI. Following his involvement with

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

he became Development Manager at STScI's Community Missions Office (CMO). CMO serves as the conduit between mission teams and STScI personnel to ensure support for mission science operations, data archiving, grants administration, peer review and education/outreach. In 2008 Conti received first prize in the Pirelli Internetional Award for the development of GoogleSky. In 2010, Conti became the Archive Scientist for the Multimission Archive at Space Telescope, the NASA UV and Optical data archive. In 2011, Conti became the Innovation Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's premier space observatory of the next decade. In 2013, Conti became the Innovation Manager for the Civil Air and Space at

Northrop Grumman Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military technology provi ...

. In 2018, Conti became the Director for New Business and Innovative Solutions at Ball Aerospace & Technologies. In 2022, Conti was honored with an Emmy by the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...

(NATAS) as an Executive Producer of the CNN Filmsbr>The Hunt for Planet B
Directed by Nathaniel Khan, ''The Hunt for Planet B'' is a human drama behind NASA's high-stakes

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...

which launched on December 25, 2021. In this same year, he was promoted to vice president and General Manager for the ''Civil Space Strategic Business Unit'' at Ball Aerospace & Technologies

References

External links

NASA Astrophysics Data System, list of publications

2007 Google TechTalk - New Frontiers in Astronomy: Hubble and beyond (with Carol Christian)
*

',

Research News, 2000
Parco Scientifico e Technologico Luigi Danieli

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conti, Alberto 21st-century Italian astronomers University of Trieste alumni Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty Living people 1966 births