Faculty and Staff

Hello! My name is Andrew and I love learning. I have an M.S. in Instructional Science and an M.S. in Physics. For ten years I taught high school science classes and supported early career science teachers develop their teaching practice. More recently I've been teaching college physics and astronomy. I developed a love of astronomy through stargazing on camping and backpacking trips. To get a better look, I built a telescope in high school in a class taught by John Dobson, a famous astronomer. I also enjoy hiking, running, board games, traveling, cooking, and coffee. I've recently started to learn more about gardening so that I can grow my own vegetables. I try my best to foster an inclusive, supportive learning community in my classes where we all build knowledge together. My lessons involve active engagement from students as we work in teams to develop new concepts and models for physics and astronomy. If you want to learn in a community, I'd love to have you in my class!

I was born in the Soviet Union in the city of Leningrad. Came to USA as a political refugee in 1978. I have received my training in the former Soviet Union as well as in the US. I Hold Ph.D. in Solid State Physics, M.S. in Physics of Semiconductors, M.S. in Materials Science/Engineering. I have been teaching full time at CA colleges and universities since 2011. Prior to teaching I worked as a scientist, engineer and manager in the semiconductor industry. In 2008 I founded a solar cell start up. My professional interests cover semiconductor processing, quantum computing, Data Science. I enjoy reading books on history, politics and economics. I also love traveling, especially to Greece, Scotland and Italy. Sometimes I can be found in a martial arts dojo. I have an adult son. The best way to contact me is at lfila@chabotcollege.edu

I studied Math & Astrophysics at UC Davis & the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and Astrophysics at UC Berkeley. After grad school, I worked for IBM as an engineer & manager, then as a manager in a startup software firm. I was fortunate to teach a summer Astro class at Chabot, enjoyed the challenge, & have been here since, now in my 35th year. I also taught at CSUEB & UC Berkeley. I was an editor of Mercury, an astronomy magazine & helped to develop educational activities at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and worked for NASA writing about results from the Hubble Space Telescope, reviewing proposals for space missions, and developing labs using data from current satellites observing the Sun and planets around other stars. In 2022 I worked on NASA's SOFIA Airborne IR Observatory. I am an honored recipient of the Reed L. Buffington award for teaching, absolutely love teaching Astronomy & Physics, and love sharing how much astronomy is actually a part of our lives.

I have been teaching physics and astronomy at Chabot College since 2011. I also was a student here many years ago. Things have changed here, but not so much that I don't still feel connected to the student experience. I studied astrophysics at SFSU for my undergrad and graduate work. I was able to do my master's degree research at Stanford University but completed my coursework at SFSU. It was a wonderful opportunity to get the research experience at Stanford but not have to pay to attend the courses. My research was on solar physics, specifically the phenomenon of supergranulation on the surface of the Sun. I have a wide variety of teaching experiences. I started teaching in graduate school and was hooked, and I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to education. I have taught elementary school children, high school students, grade school teachers, inmates at San Quentin prison, and college students at SFSU and Chabot College.