• Qualifications
  • Orbiting Spacecraft Mission Planning
  • Infrared Image Data Processing and Analysis
  • Proposal and Grant Development (Several Successes: Small Satellite for LEO Atomic Oxygen Materials Erosion; Modeling Thermospheric Dynamics; Target Tracking in Nuclear-Clutter Backgrounds; Compact DSP-Based Signal-Noise-Removal Hardware Implementation)
  • Algorithm Design (Image Processing, Kalman Filtering, Artificial Neural Networks, Navier-Stokes Fluid Dynamics, Synthetic-Aperture Radar Processing and Focusing, Fourier-Transform Analysis)
    
  • Computer and Web Programming (FORTRAN, C, Perl, Basic, Assembly, CGI, SSI, HTML, Java, Javascript)
    
  • Hardware Development (Autonomous Data Acquisition and Control Systems, Space Shuttle GAS Payloads, Transparent Laboratory Furnaces, DSP-Based Voice-Verification System)
  • Website Development:
    • Static HTML-Documents
    • CGI-Script-Generated Dynamic-HTML Forms and Documents
      • Eloxite Corp.
      • Find My Buddy Corp.
      • Cherry Websites Company
    • Industrial-Strength Shopping-Cart Software
• Experience
  • Space Infrared Telescope Facility IRAC Data-Processing Cognizant Engineer
  • Wide-Field Infrared Explorer Science Operations and Data Analysis Engineer
  • Air Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy Research (Synthetic Spectra Generation Software, Spectroscopic Constant Determination)
    
  • Reduction and Analysis of Spacelab 1 Optical Spectra
  • Thermospheric and Ionospheric Dynamics Modeling Research
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar Modeling (Strip-Map and Spotlight Mode Simulation Software)
    
  • Target Detection and Tracking Research (Noise-Removal Software for Weak Targets, High Clutter)
    
  • Principal Investigator, NASA Get Away Special Program (Designed and Built Autonomous Thermal-Conductivity Payload for STS-4)
    
  • Principal Investigator, NASA Get Away Special Program (Designed and Built Autonomous Marongoni-Convection Experiment Payload for Space Shuttle Flight)
    
  • Principal Investigator, NASA Get Away Special Program (Designed and Built Autonomous Payload for Space-Manufacturing Research)
    
  • Payload Engineer, NASA Get Away Special Program (Redesigned and Implemented Autonomous Brine-Shrimp, Marongoni-Convection, and GAS-Canister-Thermal-Study Payload for STS-42)
    
  • Dissertation Title: Ablation of Materials in the Low-Earth Orbiting Environment
• Education
  • B.S. Physics, Utah State University, 1984
    
  • Ph.D. Physics, Utah State University, 1987
    

Last revised: March 10, 2000

Software developer: Russ Laher (laher@ipac.caltech.edu)

URL: http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/laher/personal3.html