About Me

About Me:

I'm Max Fine, a PhD student at McGill University and a member of the AstroFlash group. I work with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME/FRB) and the Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD) collaborations under Professors Vicky Kaspi and Jason Hessels. These are cutting-edge radio telescopes located in Canada.

I completed my MSc in Physics & Astrophysics at the University of Amsterdam, where I was also a member of the AstroFlash group and the CHIME/FRB collaboration, working with Professors Jason Hessels and Ziggy Pleunis. Before that, I earned my undergraduate degree in Physics & Astronomy (with Honors) at the University of Toronto.

My research centers on Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs)—both detecting them and using them as tools to probe the universe. I'm broadly interested in radio transients, pulsars, scintillation, cosmic magnetism, observational cosmology, and polarization, as well as the instrumentation and software that make cutting-edge radio astronomy possible. I'm also deeply engaged with data science for radio and multimessenger astronomy, with experience in algorithm design, scalable software pipelines, and machine learning.

I also maintain a climate change bot on Bluesky that posts daily updates of North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and Antarctic sea ice extent. Blue Sky link.

Outside of research, I enjoy reading, exploring new cafés in search of the perfect latte, tinkering with Raspberry Pis, and throwing a frisbee. Come join my Minecraft server, which I host on my Raspberry Pi.

Education:
McGill University | PhD in Physics (Currently Attending!)
University of Amsterdam | MSc in Physics & Astrophysics (2025)
University of Toronto | HBSc Specialist in Physics & Astrophysics (2023)

Awards & Honors:
• McGill Wolfe Fellowship in Scientific & Technological Literacy ($6,000) (2025)
• ASTRON Summer Graduate Research Fellowship (€2,500 + housing) (2024)
• University of Toronto Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Research Fellowship ($28,595 total) (2020–2022)
• John Pounder Prize in Astronomy (3rd Year) ($200) (2021)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) ($6,000) (2021)
• University of Toronto Student Excellence and Leadership Award ($250) (2020)
• John Pounder Prize in Astronomy (2nd Year) ($300) (2019)
• Eagle Scout, Scouts of America (2018)

Publications:
For a full list of my publications, see ORCID: 0009-0006-1258-4228 .

Research

Astronomy is looking up!

I have a keen interest in Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), both in discovering them and using them as probes of the Universe. More broadly, I am interested in radio astronomy, astrophysical transients, instrumentation, and observational techniques. For a full list of my publications, see ORCID: 0009-0006-1258-4228 .

My research further focuses on data science for radio and multimessenger astronomy, including algorithm development, scientific software, and machine learning. I further enjoy research related to exoplanets and gravitational-wave astronomy.

My research background includes building a real-time FRB detection pipeline for the 25 m Dwingeloo Radio Telescope capable of processing data streams at 1 Gb/s, developing algorithms for Rotation Measure (RM) synthesis used to study cosmic magnetism, validating the polarization analysis pipeline for POSSUM , and searching for gamma-ray counterparts to FRBs with the Swift/BAT space telescope .

Current Research

  • Investigating the scattering environment of FRBs and pulsars
    Studying radio-wave scattering in FRBs and pulsars to better understand the turbulent plasma environments through which their signals propagate.
  • FRB property correlations for the Fourth CHIME Repeating FRB Catalog
    Investigating statistical relationships between repeating FRB properties for the fourth CHIME/FRB repeater catalog. Paper
  • Maintainer and lead developer of the CHIME/FRB Exposure Pipeline
    Developing and maintaining the pipeline used to measure telescope exposure, monitor downtime, and calibrate sensitivity using pulsar observations. I further developed and maintain the heartbeat monitoring system for the CHIME/FRB outrigger telescopes.
  • Scintillation of Repeating Fast Radio Bursts
    My MSc thesis at the University of Amsterdam investigates how repeating FRBs scintillate ("twinkle") due to propagation through the interstellar medium.

Previous Research

  • FRBs with the 25 m Dwingeloo Radio Telescope
    Built a real-time FRB detection pipeline for the Dwingeloo telescope during my 2024 internship at ASTRON, leading to the detection of a Fast Radio Burst. Project | Paper
  • Multiwavelength Search for Fast Radio Bursts
    Searched for gamma-ray counterparts to FRBs using observations from CHIME and the Swift/BAT satellite. Project
  • Correcting Extreme Faraday Rotation
    Developed a method for correcting intrachannel bandwidth depolarization caused by extreme Faraday rotation, now implemented in RM-Tools. This paper has been cited by the Juno space mission! RM-Tools | Paper

Outreach



I was one of the founding executives of the UofT Amateur Astronomers Society, where I helped organized star parties, field trips for meteor showers, and astronomy trivia nights. I was further involved with outreach as a volunteer with the monthly Astronomy UofT outreach events. Additionally, I was the physics director of my undergraduate student union, where I was both a volunteer at, and in charge of the physics tutoring center which offers free tutoring for first and second year physics classes.

• UTAAS website
• SCSU website
• EPSA website

I helped create one of the Jupyter-notebooks for a astronomy workshop for highschool students in Toronto. I helped make the notebook on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). See the Age-of-The-Universe workshop organized by Simran Nerval.

← Back to Community



Teaching

I have had the honor of being a TA, for several undergraduate physics classes at UofT. I have additionally been a Faciliated Study Group (FSG), and volunteer tutor at UofT.

Teachers Assistant (TA):
UofT PHYA10| Introduction to Physics for the Physical Sciences I | Fall 2021
• Ran weekly two hour long practical sessions for ∼ 10-15 students
• marked assignments & exams

UofT PHYA11| Introduction to Physics for the Life Sciences I | Fall 2020
• Ran weekly two hour long practical sessions for ∼ 10-15 students
• marked assignments & exams

UofT PHYA22| Introduction to Physics for the Life Sciences II | Winter 2021
• Ran weekly two hour long practical sessions for ∼ 10-15 students
• marked assignments & exams

← Back to Community

Other Interests



Despite what some may say, I have a life outside of astronomy. My hobbies include reading, gardening, getting lost in the city or park, visiting muesems. I like to think I can bake (bread), and paint - I've been told its worse then my karaoke singing.

Unfortunately, I am also an expert on antisemitism, and spoke at the 2022 Anti-Defamation League (ADL) confrence Javits Center in NYC (photo above).

I was president of my undergraduate Hillel (Jewish community on campus), and organized several events with Palestinian & Israeli Peace and anti-Aparthied activists.

← Back to Community

Hire Me

My day job is building software that processes massive data streams, designing low-latency pipelines, and developing statistical and machine learning algorithms for scientific applications. Along the way, I've written research software used by international collaborations, maintained mission-critical services, and helped lead projects spanning terabytes of data.

These skills transfer well beyond astronomy. Whether it's quantitative research, data science, machine learning, or software engineering, I'm happiest tackling problems where smart reasoning, strong engineering, and efficient algorithms matter.

If you're looking for someone who can bridge research and production— someone comfortable with statistics, Python, Linux, distributed systems, on—we should talk.

Technical Skills:
Languages: Python, Bash, Julia
Numerical Computing & Machine Learning: NumPy, Numba, SciPy, Pandas, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow
Statistics & Modeling: Bayesian inference, time-series analysis, stochastic modeling, signal processing, clustering, convolutional neural networks (CNNs)
Systems & DevOps: Linux, Git, GitHub, Docker, AWS, Kubernetes, Slurm
Data Engineering: TB-scale data processing, real-time data processing pipelines, performance-sensitive systems

Email: maxwell.fine@mail.mcgill.ca
GitHub: github.com/afinemax
Industry Resume
Curriculum Vitae

Tutoring

Contact me about tutoring at maxwell.fine@mail.mcgill.ca , or fill out the Google Form .

I offer one-on-one and small-group tutoring for undergraduate students at a rate of $60/hour at a café near McGill.

I am currently a PhD researcher at McGill University studying radio astronomy. I hold a BSc (Honours) in Physics & Astrophysics from the University of Toronto and an MSc in Physics & Astrophysics from the University of Amsterdam. See my Industry Resume and Curriculum Vitae .

I have been a Teaching Assistant (TA) for multiple university physics courses, mentored undergraduate researchers, and have over 6 years of experience tutoring advanced mathematics, physics, and programming.

I cannot tutor for a McGill class that I am TAing the same semester, I do not do online tutoring.

Subjects

  • Physics: General Physics, Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Chaos & Nonlinear Dynamics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics.
  • Mathematics: Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Complex Analysis, Stochastic calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, and Statistics.
  • Programming: Python, Scientific Computing, Data Analysis, and Machine Learning.
  • Computing: Linux, Git, Bash, and Scientific Software Development.
  • Economics: Introductory Microeconomics.