​​​​Mark Roper is a Senior Optics Scientist working in the Femtosecond Laser & Timing (FLT) group in ASTeC.  

His career started on the SRS (Synchrotron Radiation Source) at Daresbury where he became a specialist in the design, modelling and operation of soft x-ray beamlines and grating monochromators. He is also knowledgeable in optical systems for THz to hard x-ray and in optics metrology.  His work for the FLT group spans aspects of optical systems from design and modelling, through engineering, to installation, commissioning and operation.  His recent and current activities include: designing the optical transport systems for the UV photoinjector gun laser and CLARA UV/VUV FEL output on the CLARA accelerator; modelling of optical transport lines using wavefront propagation codes; and operating the Optics Metrology Laboratory (OML) to measure the surface quality of ultra-precision optics. ​