Ruth Mackey

Ruth Mackey has over 12 years of experience in the field of optics and photonics. Ruth began their career in 2008 as a Research Scientist at Applied Optics, School of Physics, NUI Galway, where they conducted research and development of optical systems for applications in medicine, astronomy, aerospace and industry. In 2011, they joined Optical R&D as an Optical System Design Engineer. In 2014, they moved to mBryonics Ltd as a Photonics System Design Engineer. At NUI Galway, Mackey was responsible for the preparation of EU and ESA grant applications, training and mentoring of PhD and undergraduate students, and collaborating with visiting international research fellows from China, Israel, Australia, USA, and the EU. One of their key areas of research was in the use of free space optical communication from high altitude platforms (UAVs and stratospheric balloons).

Ruth Mackey obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Adaptive Optics in Strong Atmospheric Turbulence for Free Space Optical Communication from the University of Galway between 2003 and 2008. Prior to that, they earned an MPhys in Physics with Laser Science from Heriot-Watt University between 1998 and 2002.