Welcome

I'm a postdoctoral scholar at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

My Research

My main research interest is observational cosmology, with a focus on instrumentation and data analysis for radio telescopes. I work on experiments aimed at uncovering the properties of cosmic expansion by mapping the faint glow of hydrogen emitted over the course of the last 12 billion years. Some of the instruments I work on are also capable of detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs), mysterious radio signals of misunderstood nature that (mostly) originate from outside of our galaxy.

Over the course of my scientific career, I have been an active member of the CHORD, CHIME, and HERA collaborations, and briefly contributed to the HIRAX telescope design.

Before turning to cosmology, I did research in mathematical biology and nonlinear dynamics. Did you know that the contractions that drive heartbeats behave just like forest fires? That is because heart tissue and forests are both so-called "excitable media", and I used to do mathematical modeling and simulations to understand how these "excitations" propagate.

You can find my Google Scholar profile here, and my CV (pdf) here.

About Me

I completed my PhD in Physics in the summer of 2023, at the University of Toronto's Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics. In 2018, I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Honours Mathematics and Physics at McGill University, in Montréal.

Before that, I completed a Bachelor of Music in piano performance at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, in Québec City. Despite not pursuing a professional career in music, it remains my main hobby and I play every day!

Apart from my research and music, I enjoy the outdoors (rock climbing, hiking, cycling), cooking, and watching horror movies with friends.

Contact Me

The best way to reach me is by email at vimackay (at) mit (dot) edu. You can also ping me on Twitter.