2012 Peer Awards
Ray Bendt is an engineer fabricator with a high degree of skill using state-of-the-art automated machine design software to precision fabricate metallic or space approved plastics for space flight instruments. He takes complex designs from scientists and lead engineers to fabricate parts according to standards using automated milling machines and lathes. Ray sometimes has to modify the software programs, after detecting errors, and uses unique object renderings on a monitor to determine the cause and find ways to circumvent the program in order to complete the job. Because of Ray's unique knowledge and experience, he has saved time and cut costs. He has the confidence of the Branch management and has been acting head and lab overseer of the Code 699 Fabrication Facility.
Kevin Schenk is the SOHO EOF operations person. In this role, he plans the operations for the LASCO and EIT instruments on SOHO and also coordinates connecting workstations to the telemetry and command feeds from the spacecraft. Kevin virtually holds the hands of the remote experimenters across the US and in other countries as they work through remote connectivity issues to retrieve data. With over fifteen years of experience with the spacecraft, he has developed a wealth of knowledge that lets him easily translate the confusing output on the telemetry screen into real life problems and answers. Kevin is also involved in planning off-site functions, the Goddard Crab Feast and various club events.
Christine Smit, in her first year at GES DISC, is very dedicated to working with scientists in integrating AG-AeroStat. In the short period she has been with SESDA, Christine has been instrumental in infusing new ideas in several areas including usability testing, workflow engines and software development methodology. The test methodology and review report that she generated now serves as a template for all usability testing at GES DISC. Christine deployed thread safe implementation of Kepler and its actors leading to highly reliable Agile Giovani services.
Christine has also been championing the use of newer source code management systems and test driven development at GES DISC. Christine has been someone who is eager to take up new challenges and bring them to completion. She is of great value for thinking outside the box and providing a fresh perspective to the GES DISC team. Christine has voluntarily taken up lead roles and responsibilities in the project, and shown excellent skill in executing them.
Marvin Noreiga is a certified machinist but found a niche building Mass Spectrometers in the Planetary Environments Laboratory. The lab was in great need for miniature planetary gas valves to be used on flight projects.
Marvin, and others, formed a team to build a set of valves for the Sample Analysis at Mars Mass Spectrometer. The valves were a challenge on many levels: in design, fabrication and testing. Marvin found a streamlined approach that was faster and cheaper than using outside vendors and the process has been passed on to a contractor under the NASA Tech Exchange program.
Marvin also developed expertise in the use of an Electron Beam Welder. His Branch and others at GSFC are using his knowledge for critical assembly. He currently participates on five flight projects; MOMA, MAVEN, SAM Test Bed, VAPoR, and LADEE.
Marvin was able to achieve such good results by displaying good management skills, effective communication and team spirit. He is able to demonstrate expertise and transfer his skills to the other team members.
Dr. Michael Theobald leads the AIRS project at the GES DISC and has accomplished tremendously to the AIRS data production and science outreach. AIRS is a major contributor to the data archive and is comprised of real-time data processing, archiving, user support, collaboration with developers, and many other facets.
Michael puts all of his effort into the work with commendable creativity, skill and efficiency. He willingly shares his knowledge and will not hesitate to work with a team member on any issue. He exemplifies the quality of a dedicated and outstanding leader who possesses personal integrity and a thoughtful communicative style. Michael is recognized as essential and invaluable asset to the DISC.
He holds the distinguished honor of having the most peer nominations for 2012, all of which were excellent and therefore he has been selected as the 2012 SESDA II leadership peer award winner.
Susan Lundstrom has a proven record of outstanding performance on the Precipitation Processing System (PPS). She is intimately knowledgeable about the PPS processing procedures, including running the science algorithms, ingest, distribution, and anomaly handling. She also performs the regular administration of the MySQL databases for production and development.
Management and the PPS team frequently seek her out to answer processing questions and assist with issue resolution. Susan is always available and willing to help to get the job done and she keeps the customers pleased. She is friendly and considerate and goes out of her way to be helpful to any and all of the PPS team members.
Beyond her technical performance, Ms. Lundstrom is a pleasure to work with. She is diligent in her assignments and while her duties do not require her to run processing operations, she is ready, willing, and able to fill in any gaps in coverage or to assist in special processing when needed even if it means working outside the bounds of regular work hours. Ms. Lundstrom is there when needed and always with a smile.
Mahabaleshwara Hegde has done a great job in leading and motivating the GES DISC development team. He is solution oriented, encourages participation from the entire team in bringing forth new ideas, and provides constructive feedback.
He adeptly manages the web team, the configuration management team, and along with his usual duty of managing software development staff. He, along with the ATR, was responsible for exploring and implementing the semantic technology for Mirador web application. He also designed a component-based architecture based on Yahoo User Interface (YUI) for developing JavaScript applications. The components structure is successfully used for YOTC, SSW and AEROSTAT application tool. He is leading the Giovanni migration effort.
Mr. Hegde is a proponent of adopting new trends in software development like Extreme programming and scrum for Aerostat project. He encourages other developers to explore new ways and creating a work environment for nurturing innovation. Mr. Hegde has proven himself one of the leading software innovators at GES DISC.
Daniel Carrigan is a very experienced fabricator possessing a high degree of skill using state-of-the art techniques to fabricate highly complex mass spectrometers for space flight use. Dan fabricated the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument which is on its way to Mars as part of the Mars Surface Lander (MSL) mission.
He takes complex designs from scientists, engineers, and others and assembles an instrument according to the specifications using special metals, machines, and techniques. He has on many occasions saved time and money by finding anomalies in the design before proceeding to fabricate the unit for space. This is very important as re-assembly is costly after the instrument is sealed for vacuum integrity.
Dan demonstrates excellent communication skills and diplomacy that is put to good use when selling his point of view regarding alternative approaches to an assembly problem. The Planetary Environments Lab is very fortunate to have Dan aboard and to be a recipient of his broad knowledge and experience with a get-it done-no-complaint cooperative attitude.
Alain Kabore's contributions toward the GES DISC network are exemplary. He has implemented a multitude of major improvements to the infrastructure which are too numerous to list. These improvements required a lot of communication and coordination and Alain executed the tasks meticulously. In addition to his full-time duties, Alain manages to find time for growing into other areas such as supporting GES DISC servers and AIRS cluster.
Alain's persistence, patience and good nature is highly commendable. He is always there to help with anything he can. That is why he became a de-facto top line of support for any end-user connectivity questions.
When Kevin Miller joined the graphic design team he brought with him skills that are far above expectations. Kevin quickly learned how to successfully support indecisive customers that have strict project deadlines. He proactively stays in touch with his customers and gently nudges them towards design or content decisions without overstepping his bounds.
Often, production deadlines seem impossible to meet but, even under the most difficult time constraints, the quality of his product never suffers. Even the most static scientific data comes to life with eye-catching satellite imagery and illustrations. Kevin’s ability to create stunning, informative products in a seemingly impossible timeframe constantly amazes and impresses his customers, coworkers, and management.
Kevin is a wonderful mixture of creative abilities. He is not only a gifted artist but also a genuinely kind and caring person with a wicked sense of humor and pleasant personality. His quick wit and desire to please, combined with his imaginative and beautifully executed artwork are in perfect harmony with the team’s goals and objectives.
David Obler handles Database Management, Facilities Management, Technical Documentation, IT Security Reporting and Systems Administration for the MODAPS, OMI and NPP projects with great enthusiasm, rare confidence, and an unmatched professional work ethic.
When it comes to safety & security, David is one person within our group that most people would immediately go to for information & guidance. He has pro-actively kept up with information that would help our environment be current with the many safety and security policies that we have to follow.
David is quietly taking care of the "little details" of the shop that keep everything running smoothly. He is also wise and secure enough to understand that if he weren't managing the very important "less glamorous" tasks in the shop, the rest of the work wouldn't get done.
In short, David does what I wish more folks would do. He does the right thing when nobody's looking.
Michael Berganski is an excellent systems engineer, solving hard problems on a daily basis. His dedication to the GES DISC project and members is unparalleled. Via direct two-way feedback participation with the science software engineers he has shown repeatedly that he will stick with a problem until its full resolution.
He can turn a raw open source software package into a well configured usable tool and help the team stay on priority and meet its deadlines.
As a System Administrator, Mike has been able to provide stellar support for the task and consistently worked beyond expectations to meet the needs of the project, his team and his colleagues. We are proud to select him as a 2012 SESDA II team player peer award winner.
M’hamed Lahbabi plays an integral role in both the SESDA II business office and ADNET’s corporate business development/proposal departments. M’hamed provides a superior quality of work on a daily basis ensuring all SESDA II financials are properly and accurately reported to the government, as well as being a liaison to the corporate accounting department to ensure all ADNET advances, expenses and reimbursements are paid in a timely manner. He is also the ACME administrator and is always happy to answer any questions or correct any issues related to the ACME system. In addition to his SESDA II duties, M’hamed is often called to the Reston office to assist with pricing on many of ADNET’s bids and proposals which often requires extra hours and weekend work. M’hamed is always willing to pitch-in to get the job done, he’s helpful to his co-workers and he does it all with a smile.
