She has also been involved in the development and construction of the James Webb Space Telescope as the European Principal Investigator for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
This work investigated the cause of unusually intense Infra-red activity in the nuclei of interacting galaxies, concluding that the most likely cause was recent bursts of star formation.
[6] In 1997 Wright returned to Edinburgh to join the newly formed UK Astronomy Technology Centre, where she currently holds the position of director.
[1][9] She is currently the European Principal for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, as well as being a member of the project's science working group.
[1] MIRI was completed in 2012, when it was shipped to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre for incorporation[10] into the telescope, which was launched on 25 December 2021.