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The Airborne Sensor Facility team joins BAERI
On May 31st, the Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF) team joined BAERI, bringing with them an impressive breadth and depth of knowledge about airborne science instrumentation, and a deep enthusiasm for making the most of what the facility’s tools can do.
Today we’re introducing 11 of the 18 people on the ASF team (we’ll be introducing the remaining 7 soon). Please join us in welcoming them all to BAERI!
Ali Pompeii (she/her)
Electrical Engineer/Sensor Technician
Ali’s role: I will be working on supporting the ASF Instrumentation.
Before ASF: I grew up in the Dayton, Ohio area and I now live in Palmdale, California. Before working with ASF, I was in college working at the local FBO in SLO (ACIJET), and also working at the Cal Poly CubeSat lab. At ACIJet I worked under my A&P on mainly CJ2s and Challenger 604s, and a handful of other airframes. At the CubeSat Lab, I was the Vibration Testing lead, XCube lead, Helmholtz cage operator, TVAC operator, and also built both CubeSat space hardware and test hardware.
Education: For my last two years of high school I attended an A&P program at the local vocational school. At the same time, I knocked out my Associates degree in Applied Aviation Maintenance Sciences. During the summer prior to starting college, I learned to fly and got my Private Pilot’s license. I then attended Cal Poly-SLO for my bachelors in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in Astronautics.
What work-related thing do you love talking about? Funny interactions with coworkers.
How about a non-work related thing? Hiking and backpacking trips.
Conrad Esch (he/him)
Research Support Engineer
Conrad’s role: Supporting continuous upgrades of research instruments and calibration of lab equipment.
Before ASF: I grew up in Bakersfield, California and currently live in Santa Cruz, California. Before the ASF, I was a Research Support Engineer at BAERI for the 3STAR and 5STAR Projects.
Education: M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of California Santa Cruz.
What work-related thing do you love talking about? Motor and Feedback Control.
How about a non-work related thing? Sailing.
Diane Gribschaw (she/her)
Senior Program Specialist
Diane’s role: My main function is making it easier for the amazing ASF team to focus on and do their main functions.
Before ASF: I grew up in AZ/CO/CA, and recently moved to a small town in upstate New York – for the adventure. Prior to joining the ASF, I was the Senior Administrative Analyst / Confidential Special Assistant to the Local District K Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Education: MPA: Public/Non-Profit Finance; BA: 19th Century American Literature; Various certifications, and way too many post-graduate credits in all sorts of weird things.
What work-related thing do you love talking about? I love exploring solutions and responses to climate change and the role that science, science education, and communication can play in our society.
How about a non-work related thing? Hmm. I love a good conversation on a wide variety of disparate topics from Burning Man to music, to theatre, art, dance, gardening, politics, psychology, writing, marketing, tech trends – hit me up for a virtual lunch or join my Social Water Cooler on Thursday afternoons, I bet we’ll find some common ground!
Edward (Ted) A. Hildum (he/him)
Sr. Systems Engineer
Edward’s role: Working on ASF instruments: eMAS, MASTER and Picard, and on calibration lab instrumentation / procedures.
Before ASF: I grew up North of Detroit, Michigan in Rochester, MI. I’m currently living in San Francisco. I’ve been at NASA since 1989, starting with Sverdrup Technology in EES (Engineering Systems Branch), lots of work with OMH (High-altitude Missions Branch). Before that I was at Lawrence Livermore Labs in the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program.
Education: BS in physics at MIT, PhD in physics at Stanford
What work-related thing do you love talking about? Lots of interesting details of building instruments and traveling with them.
How about a non-work related thing? My wife & I are building a geodesic dome cabin in Oologah, OK, an ongoing project, doing a bit of work at a time on every visit.
Eric Fraim (he/him)
Geospatial Analyst
Eric’s role: I work on airborne instrument analysis and Level-1B data processing / archiving, engineering support, and instrument website development / maintenance.
Before ASF: I have lived in Santa Cruz, CA for the past 30 years, and have been working at the ASF for the past 20 years.
Education: I have a BA in GIS from San Jose State University.
What work-related thing do you love talking about? I love playing a role in studying our world through the lens of the Airborne Science Program.
How about a non-work related thing? I am an avid bicyclist and love hiking & backpacking.
Ethan Andre Pinsker (they/them)
Researcher/Engineer
Ethan’s role: Circuit designing & testing for the ASF.
Before ASF: I grew up in Orange County, CA and currently live in Santa Clara. Before the ASF, I was a UAV engineer for CSUMB.
Education: BS in Electrical Engineering and BA in Network Engineering both at UC Santa Cruz
What work-related thing do you love talking about? Tektronix oscilloscopes are one of my favorite tools to use
How about a non-work related thing? Music Production or DJing.
Gary Hoffman (he/him)
Geospatial Data Analyst
Gary’s role: I primarily support analysis and processing in the field for our hyperspectral imaging instruments, but I also support aircraft data networks and telemetry systems, and coordinate with local personnel at AFRC to best utilize ASF expertise in support of NASA airborne science.
Before ASF: I grew up in Rochester, NY and currently live in Palmdale, CA. Before coming to ASF I was a data analyst with Fugro Pelagos in San Diego, CA supporting airborne bathymetric lidar surveys.
Education: B.S. Imaging Sciences from Rochester Institute of Technology, Ph.D. Earth and Planetary Sciences from UC Santa Cruz
What work-related thing do you love talking about? Image processing, especially hyperspectral image processing.
How about a non-work related thing? I do enjoy cooking.
Haiping Su (he/him)
Sr. Geospatial Analyst
Haiping’s role: Developing spectral, radiometric, and geometric calibration algorithms for the ASF team.
Before ASF: I grew up on a small island in southeast China, and currently live in the Bay Area. Before I joined the ASF team in 2002, I worked for Cargill Research Center as Senior Scientist to develop crop yield forecasting techniques using remote sensing technology.
Education: PhD and MS in remote sensing application from Kansas State University
What work-related thing do you love talking about? I love talking about remote sensing applications in environmental and agricultural sciences.
How about a non-work related thing? I enjoy gardening.
James Jacobson (he/him)
Sr. Manager/Sr. Geospatial Analyst
James’ role: Airborne Sensor Facility management.
Before ASF: I grew up in Sunnyvale, CA and am currently living in Scotts Valley, CA. Before coming to ASF I was an analyst and field operations technician for the Carnegie Institute for Science, Department of Global Ecology.
Education: B.S. Geology with Emphasis in Hydrology and Engineering Geology; M.S. Earth Science with Emphasis in Remote Sensing
What work-related thing do you love talking about? I love talking about the science and technology of what we do, as well as the adventures of work travel.
How about a non-work related thing? I enjoy DIY projects, the Maker movement.
Jeff Meyers (he/him)
Technical adviser for the ASF
Jeff’s role: I advise the senior staff of the Ames Airborne Sensor Facility and the Earth Science Division on technical and strategic matters related to airborne science instrumentation.
Before ASF: I grew up in Palo Alto, CA and currently live in Menlo Park. I started working in Ames airborne science after graduation in 1976, progressing from data analysis to, eventually, project management.
Education: BA Geography, UC Berkeley 1976
What work-related thing do you love talking about? How to maximize the science return from NASA airborne instruments.
How about a non-work related thing? The Sierra Nevada – from mountaineering to natural history.
Jian Zheng (she/her)
Software Engineer
Jian’s role: Maintaining software used in ASF operations.
Before ASF: I have worked with different groups within the NASA Ames SG branch since 1996. I live in San Jose, CA.
Education: Bachelor in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley; Master in Geography from SJ State University; Master in Computer Engineering from UC Santa Cruz
What work-related thing do you love talking about? I love talking about programming and debugging.
How about a non-work related thing? Ballroom dancing, and lapidary.
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