Radio Astronomy Instrumentation Laboratory
The Radio Astronomy Instrumentation Laboratory (RAIL) is a research group in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at West Virginia University. We are also part of the WVU Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology.
We build analog front ends, FPGA correlators, timing systems and software for wide-field radio telescopes, and we contribute to CHIME, its outrigger stations, CHORD and HIRAX. Our science covers cosmology with neutral hydrogen, fast radio bursts and pulsars. The research page describes this work and where it happens.
RAIL members belong to the CHIME/FRB team, which received the 2022 Berkeley Prize for Meritorious Work in Astronomy.
Recent papers
- Millisecond-cadence Radio Frequency Interference Filters
J. W. Kania, K. Bandura, D. R. Lorimer, R. Prestage, The Astronomical Journal, 2026 - PEACC - Precision Emitter for 21 cm Array Coherent Calibration
K. Bhopi, M. Cole, M. Helfenbein, W. Tyndall, A. Whitmer, K. Bandura, L. Newburgh, arXiv preprint, 2026 - A fast radio burst localized at detection to an edge-on galaxy using very-long-baseline interferometry
T. Cassanelli, C. Leung, P. Sanghavi, et al., incl. K. Bandura, Nature Astronomy, 2024 - TONE: A CHIME/FRB Outrigger Pathfinder for Localizations of Fast Radio Bursts using Very Long Baseline Interferometry
P. Sanghavi, C. Leung, K. Bandura, et al., Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 2024 - A Digital Calibration Source for 21 cm Cosmology Telescopes
K. Bhopi, W. Tyndall, P. Sanghavi, K. Bandura, L. Newburgh, J. Gallicchio, Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation, 2023
Teaching radio astronomy
DSPIRA (Digital Signal Processing in Radio Astronomy) began as a summer program for teachers run by the lab. Teachers and lab contributors maintain 50 public lessons covering the astronomy, hardware, signal processing, and labs. The discussion forum and group meetings keep the collaboration open to educators, students, and independent telescope builders.
Start with the lessons, or read about the program and its teachers.
Joining the lab
We take on undergraduate and graduate researchers every year. To talk about joining, write to Kevin M. Bandura at kmbandura@mail.wvu.edu. The people page lists the group and its alumni.