For reference only – mostly for my benefit. But peruse if you feel the urge; nothing to hide here. This version only goes back to 2010 though. I have added my last position at NASA’s GSFC (2018 thru 2020) as if I were to keep my USAjobs file up-to-date – but I wasn’t a Federal employee there and my secret squirrel stuff was long before.
As a Federal employee, it is necessary to maintain an account with USAjobs.gov. I don’t intend to be a Federal employee again – I’m a Federal retiree and the transition back is … not desirable.
A USAjobs posting is much more involved than the 1 or 2-page resume expected by other organizations – for one thing, the job description/duties segment is more extensive than what fits on a couple of pages. So for those who may be interested, here is my USAjobs description for my work since 2010 … and what does it really matter what I did in 1990? (developed custom analog integrated circuits for Boeing’s Space & Defense Group outside of Seattle). Or – since I’m old enough – how about 1980? (instrumentation technician with EG&G Special Measurements Group at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas). Or really pushing it, before 1980? (though EG&G was my first career-grade professional position – one of my best and most interesting – and I started there in the 1970s). No one cares about (paid) work I did in the ’60s. If it’s not documented, it didn’t exist.
SSAI for:
NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center
7/2018 – 12/2020
Lanham/Greenbelt, MD
Contractor: SME, Sr. Engineering Scientist
Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills:
Consultant on IR channels for the “Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope” (WFIRST – since renamed “Roman Space Telescope”). Lead designer for sensor networks on the “Radiowave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath” (ROLSES) project. Responsible for providing analysis of the external electric fields to be measured and design of the assoiated sensing networks for these low-frequency variations in the lunar near-surface electron plasma field. Work included analysis of environmental parameters and design of measurement interface networks.
Responsibilities
SME for electronics development on experimental and space flight projects.
db Group LLC
04/2016 – Present [“present” being sometime around 2018 when I started at Goddard]
Boise, ID
Research Development Engineer/Geophysicist
Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills:
Specialized experience is in low-noise, high-precision instrumentation circuits which include complex analog and mixed-signal circuit design at PCB and integrated-circuit levels. This effort involves theoretical mathematical and circuit modeling as well as simulation using Mathematica, PSPICE, and other such simulators. Typical modelling goals include noise analysis, filter design, amplifier design, power conditioning, and analog-to-digital conversion.
Lead and manage electronics development of state-of- art electronic systems for experimental instrumentation technology. This work includes the design, analysis, and testing of analog and mixed-signal integrated-circuit electronics such as amplifiers, filters, and signal conditioning networks.
Organization project guidelines suggest development of analog and mixed-signal electronic signal conditioning networks to interface with active and passive sensors for a variety of sensing and measurement systems.
Manage multi-organization efforts to develop differential-absorption laser (DIAL) receiver for energy and environmental applications. Preliminary empirical measurements suggest detection of mid-IR optical signals in the 10-100 pW range.
Manage efforts to modernize broadband magnetic field signature detection instrumentation having minimum detection levels of 0.1 nT. Intended for non-invasive shallow subsurface exploration in mining and oil industries. Original design was developed with discrete networks; performance should improve with integrated circuit networks.
Design and development of semi-custom integrated measurement networks for potential “small-sat” platforms. PCB based circuits are bulky and power-hungry. Small, specialized measurement circuits can potentially be built for under $10k in lots of 40 or about $250 per unit. The core network of one potential measurement network is smaller than the tip of the lead of a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil.
Produced three books regarding analog signal processing:
“Differential Laser Absorption Receiver: Design Considerations and Prototype Development”, May 2017, ISBN: 978-0998305769
“Butterworth & Bessel Filters: A Development Tutorial”, May 2016, ISBN: 978-1533172808
“DC Error Analysis of a Discrete Instrumentation Amplifier: Derivations of a Traditional 3-Opamp Topology”, May 2016, ISBN: 978-1530643387
NASA – Langley Research Center
11/2010 – 11/2015
Hampton, VA
AST, Electronic Instrumentation Systems
This a Federal time-limited appointment
Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills:
Served as a senior technology leader with title Electronics Engineer, (AST Electronic Instrument Systems). Responsible for providing design, development, and application of state-of- art electronic systems for experimental technology and high-reliability space flight systems. Work included circuit design, analysis, and testing of analog printed circuit board and integrated circuit electronics such as amplifiers, filters, signal conditioning, and similar networks. Work also included mentoring junior engineers, reviewing designs, and defining project requirements. Served as SME for photodetection systems.
Responsibilities
Lead avionic electronics development on experimental and space flight projects.
Provide expert design to produce new electronic systems or equipment having far-reaching impact in analog design and development.
Provide expertise in optimized low-noise electronics to achieve high performance requirements for ongoing research. It is expected that these newly developed systems will have far reaching impact in measurement systems for future missions including atmospheric science instruments.
Conduct, direct, and mentor the development and design of complex avionics technology, equipment, or systems that may impact national or international programs.
Coordinate avionics systems and subsystem interfaces with other organizations.
Assist in the strategic planning and implementation of flight and ground integration and verification of avionics systems.
Coordinate solutions of inter-discipline subsystem incompatibilities to ensure that consistent avionics designs are obtained.
Provide project liaison support.
Past projects include development of analog electronics to perform signal conditioning for large-scale flight data systems intended to study atmospheric constituents using active or passive sensors. These projects include filtering, amplification, and level translation.
Specialized experience includes complex analog circuit design, modeling, and simulation using Mathematica and PSPICE to perform noise analysis, filter design, amplifier design, signal processing, and power conditioning.
Example Projects:
RBI (Radiation Budget Instrument): SME of detector electronics. Involved in detailed analysis of detector and pre-ADC electronic networks. Involved with verification of point spread function (“PSF”) and signal acquisition error analysis as it relates to both RBI and the heritage project (CERES). Additional analysis/verification support for Electronics Lead engineer.
IRAD: Multi-year development of integrated multi-wavelength photodetector array for DIAL. Signal processing technique allows detection of 1 nW optical power with direct binary output of ON/OFF ratio. This work lead to Patent 9,696,411.
CERES RBI (contractor oversight of ROIC system);
THOR (part of Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment: Inflation system power);
ASCENDS (DIAL CO2 absorption measurements);
ALHAT (ROIC review for landing detection system);
CLARREO (thermal control and measurement for optical platform);
SAGEIII (ISS power interface and distribution);
MISSEE-X (power distribution)
General senior electronics engineering duties.
– Mentoring of junior engineers in analog design and analog/mixed-signal networks
As senior engineer, involved with proposal development.
Proposed topics:
– Technique To Improve Radiation Exposure Measurements
– Pre-quantization Signal Processing Methods to Reduce Data Quantity
– Optimization of PMOS Radiation Detection Measurements
– Delta-Sigma Modulation Based Photo-Receivers To Minimize Laser Power (patent awarded)
– Advanced Signal Processing Method for DIAL Measurements