Faculty In Residence

FIR MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the FIR program is to facilitate student-faculty interaction outside the classroom and laboratory and to provide informal mentorship relationships to help students advance their education in science and engineering.

ABOUT THE FIR PROGRAM
The FIR program was established in 1996. Historically, Avery House has been the only student residence with FIRs, but in spring 2019 it was extended to the new Bechtel Residence with plans to extend the program to all other undergraduate houses in the future.

Current Faculty in Residence

Antonio Rangel, Head Faculty in Residence

Bing Professor of Neuroscience, Behavioral Biology and Economics; Head Faculty in Residence, Bechtel Residence, 2018 -; Faculty in Residence, Avery House, 2015 - 2018

Bing Professor of Neuroscience, Behavioral Biology, and Economics Antonio Rangel earned his B.S. at Caltech (BS '93) and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1998. Prior to joining Caltech in 2006 in the Division of Humanities and Social Science, Prof. Rangel was an assistant professor of economics at Stanford from 1998 to 2006, as well as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Rangel Neuroeconomics Laboratory studies the computational and neurobiological basis of decision-making and the applications of this knowledge to economics, psychiatry and the development of ‘neurotechnologies' designed to improve decision-making. The primary focus of his lab is on understanding how the brain computes and compares values to make simple choices.

His role as Faculty in Residence (FIR) in Avery House began in 2015. Prof. Rangel and his family are passionate about enhancing the residential experience of Caltech students. The Rangel family are actively engaged with the residents, and invitations to his residence are frequent as are the emails from his children asking residents to join the family for an adventure nearby.

In August 2018 Prof. Rangel was appointed as the Head FIR and he and his family moved into Bechtel Residence in September. His expanded role includes helping to grow the FIR program and to assist the FIRs with programming and resident engagement.

Konstantin Batygin, Faculty in Residence

Professor of Planetary Science; Faculty in Residence, Avery House, 2018 -

Konstantin Batygin is a professor of planetary science at Caltech's Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences (GPS). He received his B.S. in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2008, and subsequently earned a Ph.D. in planetary science from Caltech in 2012. Prior to joining the faculty in 2014, Batygin was a postdoctoral scholar at Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in Nice, France, and Harvard University.

Prof. Batygin's research interests primarily lie in the field of planetary astrophysics. He is fascinated by a wide range of problems related to the formation and evolution of the solar system, dynamical evolution of exoplanets, as well as physical processes that occur in planetary interiors and atmospheres. When not doing science, he moonlights as the lead singer and guitarist in the rock band, The Seventh Season.

H. Jane Bae, Faculty in Residence

Assistant Professor of Aerospace; Faculty in Residence, Bechtel Residence, 2022 -

H. Jane Bae, Assistant Professor of Aerospace

H. Jane Bae's research focuses on the physical understanding and modeling of structures associated with near-wall turbulence. Her main research goal is to develop high-fidelity models that reduce the computational cost to simulate high-Reynolds-number turbulent flows. These models will allow simulations to be utilized in the design cycle of wind farms and aircrafts and in predictions of atmospheric flows, reducing the overall time and effort associated with these processes.

Prof. Bae also studies the physical mechanisms that generate and sustain turbulence, which, in turn, fuels new modeling approaches. She has interests in applying machine learning, information theory, and other novel methods to turbulence modeling.