Description: High resolution spectrographs are widely used astronomical tools which finely capture an emitted spectrum of light due to the specific chemical composition of a source object in a technique known as spectroscopy. The 2D projection of the resulting light causes overlapping of subsequent spectral lines and prevents coverage of more than the most prominent features. As a result, these spectrographs are limited to a lower resolution, or fineness of features, at a broad range of wavelengths, or higher resolution at a narrower range of wavelengths. The technological development of the high-resolution spectrograph has been largely stagnant for the past several decades, but this work aims to change the spectroscopic frontier by integrating a radically new device known as a Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector, or MKID. MKIDs are able to determine the wavelength of each incoming light ray with significantly less instrument noise than other detectors like CCDs. They can operate over a broad range of wavelengths covering ultraviolet, visible, and infrared. MKIDs have undergone rapid improvement since their invention and are currently being used in many applications, most prominent in the MKID Exoplanet Camera (MEC) at the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea. I will design and build a brand-new high-resolution multi-object spectrograph (HRMOS) from the ground up and replace the light dispersing component with a tightly packed array of MKIDs, boosting efficacy and simplifying the design. The MKID HRMOS has another promising capability: simultaneously discovering and characterizing faint objects like exoplanets. NASA's plan for the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) would greatly benefit from incorporation of an MKID HRMOS, particular in Signature Science Cases #1 and #2, which together address the characterization and discovery of habitable exoplanets and their biosignatures (atmospheric chemical composition). The research plan will unfurl over the funding period of four years in a series of defined milestones. For most of the first year, the MKID camera will be produced using the latest advancements in MKID technology and the combined system MKID HRMOS will be constructed, undergoing a series of laboratory tests before being declared fully operational. Through the beginning of the second year, I will demonstrate its sorting abilities for distinguishing between light rays of close wavelengths. I will experiment with the MKID HRMOS in various cases to show calibration and subtraction of undesirable effects to establish a record of performance. To finish out the second year, the MKID HRMOS will be tested outside of the laboratory for the first time by capturing the spectrum of the Sun, moving on only when the fine spectral features are resolved. In the third year, I will begin upgrading and replacing components to push the resolution ceiling, measuring system processing speed and abilities to compare to existing state-of-the-art spectrographs, and start capturing the spectrum of a bright, distant star. An even higher goal resolution at this stage will demonstrate that the system is ready for mounting to an existing telescope. In the final year, after successful demonstration of the higher resolution, I plan to collaborate with an observatory to mount the MKID HRMOS to an existing ground-based telescope. I will monitor its performance and test for operability in this relevant environment. This step will extend to the end of the funding period and beyond. With the success at this stage, I will propose building a major instrument intended specifically for a large telescope like the Lick or Keck Observatory based around the understanding and hardware I will develop in this proposal.