Avionics News September 2017 - 39

I enjoy designing circuity and
electronics. I like getting new
things working, whether in a
board layout or electrical or
mechanical design. That's a
typical day, a good day. Of course,
we have tons of paperwork, so
that's always part of my day.
What do you like best
about your job?
The magic of electronics and
the art of it. It's a surprisingly
creative endeavor with a limited
palette. You find solutions
every day, and you need to get
something working. My mind is
iterating ideas and throwing out
bad ones and coming up with
new ones; it's a fun challenge.
What's the corporate
culture at Sandia?
We're led by Dennis, and one
of his rules is that we don't raise
our voices at each other. We
talk things through. That's one
aspect of the internal culture,
but we also have a culture of
putting customers first. If there's
an aircraft on the ground, we dig
into that issue first.
When you started your
engineering career, you
didn't know you'd work
on avionics. What do you

like about avionics?
From a design point of view,
it's challenging work with a
broad amount of technology and
circuitry. The old-timers used
to say "DC to blue light," which
meant descending current all the
way up to RF frequencies. We
design in a very broad field.
Is there one innovation
that has impressed you
the most?
I'd say it's the Kalman filter,
which is the heart of GPS. Dr.
Kalman passed away last year,
but his filter has enabled a lot
of interesting things in aviation.
Beyond that, it's miniaturization
that enables data to get through
a channel, and that's impressive.
What do you do when
you're not working?
I'm a runner, and I've run
a lot of marathons and halfmarathons. My latest marathon
was in San Diego. I've also done
San Francisco and enjoyed
running across the Golden Gate
Bridge. I'm also a backpacker.
Albuquerque is in the center of
New Mexico, and it's the fifthlargest state by area with not
too many people. I appreciate
that I can enjoy the beauty
and solitude in a wilderness

area. Half the state is public
land, so there are lots of wideopen spaces. Typically, I'll do
a backpacking trip with two
overnights, and every time I go
out I see something new.
Tell me about
your family.
I have two kids and enjoy
taking them backpacking. My son,
Evan, is 10 and going into fifth
grade. He's a baseball player and
loves it. My daughter, Lauren,
is 13 and going into eighth
grade. She loves to dance. They
both like backpacking, and I've
been exposing them to outdoor
activities slowly over their lives.
My son also loves to whittle. Both
are good students, and they seem
to enjoy school. I'm trying to push
more math and science on them.
How do you see your
future?
I have had a fun career, and
I'm going to keep doing what I'm
doing. I enjoy design and hope I
can keep doing it. I want to raise
my family right and get them
launched. q

To learn more about Sandia
Aerospace, visit sandia.aero.
avionics news

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september

2017

39
http://sandia.aero
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