2010 Peer Awards
Awards Committee: Lalit Wanchoo (Chair), Mary Greene, Keith Hughitt, Mark Malanoski, Jonathan Morgan, Marvin Noreiga, Edgardo Ocampo, Jianfu Pan, Edward Seiler, Eduardo Takamura
Nomination Timeframe: 5 MAR 2010 through 19 APR 2010
Date of Ceremony: 26 JUN 2010
Place: SESDA II Picnic and Peer Awards Ceremony, Six Flags America, Largo, MD
Award Winners:
- David Bruton (Unsung Hero)
"David Bruton is a senior technical writer who supports the ESDIS Metrics System (EMS) task. Technical writers don't always receive the recognition they deserve, but the work they do is very important, and Dave is very skilled at what he does. Whether compiling weekly and monthly reports, or creating annual reports of major accomplishments, he has a talent for collecting information from a variety of sources, identifying the nuggets of important information, and condensing everything into a clear, coherent, and concise form. The audience for his work includes ATRs, project management, and even NASA headquarters.
Dave's editing and rewriting has resulted in readable, consistently formatted, high quality documentation that exceeds expectations. His hard work, helpfulness, dedication, and expertise working behind the scenes make him a deserving recipient of the Unsung Hero award."
- Sandeep Budala (Team Player)
"As a key member of the operations team at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), Sandeep Budala is responsible for monitoring the archiving systems and responding to any problems. He is the paragon of responsibility and dependability.
Sandeep has done an outstanding job by working closely with users, data providers at other institutions, and his co-workers. When an anomaly was discovered in an instrument of the Aqua spacecraft, he worked around the clock to assist the data provider in finding solutions, and kept everyone at the GES DISC informed of the progress being made. Sandeep played an instrumental role in the migration of data to the S4PA archive, and his knowledge helps ensure the smooth operation of the instances that he monitors.
When asked for assistance, Sandeep will always respond, and one never hears that he is too busy to help. His combination of positive attitude, leadership, initiative, and reliability makes him an exemplary team player."
- George Canter (Unsung Hero)
"No matter how busy he is, George Canter is always ready, willing, and able to help others. He has such a warm personality that it is always a pleasure to receive his help. He is very knowledgeable and skillful, and always does his best, often going far beyond anything that might reasonably be expected. He will do whatever it takes to complete a job, no matter how late that means that he has to work. When a group's office printer broke late one Friday afternoon, and George was called for advice, he came over without a complaint, and stayed until seven in the evening until the printer was fixed, even though he was no longer responsible for the group. For going above and beyond the call of duty, George has deservedly earned the Unsung Hero award."
- Daniel Carrigan (Wildcard)
"Daniel Carrigan is an experienced fabricator who possesses a high degree of skill using state-of-the-art techniques to fabricate highly complex mass spectrometers for space flight. The models that Dan fabricated during the pre-proposal period of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Mass Spectrometer flight project contributed heavily to the winning of the proposal.
Dan has become the key person to assemble instruments that require meticulous attention to detail. His combination of experience, positive attitude, and unique knowledge has allowed him to save time and costs by identifying potential design anomalies before proceeding to the lengthy and costly fabrication and testing stages. His broad knowledge, experience, unique skills, and positive attitude make him a worthy recipient of the Wildcard category peer award."
- Hyo Duck Chang (Leadership)
"Hyo Duck Chang, a longtime member of the Science Processing Support Office, is a wonderful and caring person who is always looking out for the people he works with. Whether it is dispensing fatherly advice on a variety of matters, or accommodating the schedules of his staff so that they can continue their education, he takes people under his wing and makes them better employees and better people. He is a mentor who provides advice and support when it is needed the most. Hyo Duck is a solution solver and a consensus builder. His work ethics are an example to all, and he never shrinks away from being an advocate for the EMS team."
- Amy Forinash (Health, Safety, and Security)
"As the lead system administrator for the Solar Data Analysis Center (SDAC), Amy Forinash is responsible for all of the SDAC's computer systems, and is therefore frequently tapped to do what is needed to meet new NASA security reporting requirements. This requires her to act as a guinea pig who must submit an obscene amount of paperwork, have it rejected for arbitrary reasons, and then somehow find a way to make it acceptable.
Amy benefits her co-workers' health by shielding them from the mental anguish they would have to endure if she wasn't the one doing her job. She's always one of the first to recognize when stress levels are rising and suggest a walk to clear the head. She's also quick to tell co-workers who aren't feeling well to go home and avoid spreading their illness to everyone else.
Amy is her building's fire marshal, so she must drag people who ignore the fire alarm outside. Since there is no assurance that there is not a fire, she therefore potentially puts her own life at risk for the safety of others."
- Bryan Irby (Team Player)
"As configuration manager of HEAsoft, the HEASARC's software package for analyzing high-energy astrophysics data, Bryan Irby supports all of the HEAsoft and mission-specific developers. He provides timely development builds and assistance in getting their software running on a large number of supported platforms, while juggling the occasionally disparate needs of multiple missions for software releases. His knowledge of the build systems and environments on many different platforms is beyond compare, and he is always willing to help a fellow developer who has questions or issues. By making everyone's job easier, Bryan demonstrates that he is a genuine team player."
- Vasant Patel (Team Player)
"Vasant Patel is a system administrator with exceptional skills for managing hardware, software, and networks. His help with procurement recommendations, such as suggesting that PC hardware could be purchased for less from another vendor, led to significant savings for the ATR. He is genuinely interested in helping others, and always provides detailed explanations of how and why things are done. When asked for help he provides what is needed ahead of schedule. On many occasions he will work on problems after hours, or even remotely from home. Vasant always follows up on problems to make sure they are resolved satisfactorily."
- Bhagirath Trivedi (Team Player)
"As a systems administrator, database administrator, network administrator, and configuration manager, Bhagi Trivedi performs many roles at the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC).
When Bhagi was assigned the responsibility of managing the archive and host computer for the A-Train instrument data, it took him only a few months to become thoroughly familiar with its operation, and after he made several improvements, it has been running smoothly. Since Bhagi was chosen to oversee the MERRA project data archive, thirty years of data have been archived and are serving a wide range of the user community. Bhagi accepted the daunting task of managing the hundreds of data sets in the TRMM data archive and succeeded in making the instance run without problems. Although Bhagi has also taken on the duties of the primary configuration manager for the project source code repository, his heavy workload doesn't prevent him from answering users' requests promptly. He is truly a team player."
- Sanjay Verma (Team Player)
"Sanjay Verma is relied upon by his team to handle a large volume of work, yet he always finds time to help his team members when they need it, taking the time to explain concepts in detail. He edits others' work without a trace of condescension, and is a patient teacher. Sanjay is quick to point praise away from himself and direct it towards other members of his team. When working with customers, he is able to ascertain when their assumptions are misguided, and correct them in a pleasant and articulate manner. He encourages his team members to give presentations to the customers, and supports them during the presentation in those cases where the customer challenges a result or a conclusion.
Sanjay has developed several tools and macros that make his team's work easier and more efficient. His talents are recognized and appreciated by everyone he works with."
