What is involved in your job?
Broadly, my job includes the design, synthesis, and characterization of the infrared detector materials we use to produce our image sensors. Important aspects of this include developing and maintaining models and sophisticated instrumentation to exacting standards. I also provide technical leadership on the infrared image sensor programs that are aligned with space imaging, Earth observation and astronomy. In this role for a given program, I am responsible for numerous technical aspects within our operations department, and I work closely with program managers, systems engineers, and test engineers on program planning and execution.
What’s the best part of your job?
Research and development programs, both internally funded and those commissioned by customers can be very rewarding to work on. When these opportunities arise, we are driven to push the performance and capabilities of our technology with the goal that we will be able to create new products that meet our customers’ future needs. I also enjoy working with the people in our field, both at Teledyne and on our customers’ side. Many of our customers are among global experts in their fields. Working with and learning from them through their programs is rewarding. For example, one astronomy program I have contributed to is the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, the goal of which is to find asteroids that could be potentially dangerous to Earth and to do so in a timely manner. The sensors we have developed and produced for this mission are sensitive to faint signals over a large range of the infrared spectrum. They will aid in finding and characterizing relatively small NEOs but that could still be hazardous. Projects like this allow us to work with customers that push us to continue to improve the performance of our sensors.
Can you describe an Earth observation project you have worked on or are currently working on?
I have been involved with the NASA led CLARREO Pathfinder mission. We contributed by producing a sensor that was sensitive from UV to short-wave infrared radiation. This sensor will be used in an instrument that will take accurate measurements of the sunlight reflected from the Earth. Ultimately it will aid in better understanding Earth’s climate and how it is changing. This pathfinder mission will test the performance of this instrument.
How do you see Teledyne growing in the future from your standpoint?
We have seen much recent growth in national space. I believe we will continue to contribute to this part of national defense by providing high performance sensors that meet our customers’ needs. There are exciting opportunities to be taken in the commercial space sector. We are also working to develop our technology to potentially support missions such as NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory – a mission that will study planets orbiting other stars using sensors with unprecedented sensitivity. There may not yet exist a sensor on Earth that will meet this mission’s needs. We know that this mission is coming up, and we are internally thinking through adaptations to our technologies that could lead to image sensors sensitive enough to be part of this exciting project.
Our performance gives us distinction among our competitors, and maintaining a technical edge is critical. But our demonstrations of timely execution, quality and reliability have also been key to our growth. Our success is also leading to additional investments in our facilities. Overall, it is an exciting time for us.
Did you always want to work in space?
I’ve always been fascinated by astronomy and space science, but I also have a penchant for materials physics at microscopic scales. In my field I get to see the two come together in a way. Our detector materials are grown atomic layer by atomic layer. We produce our sensors with device physics at sub-micron length scales in mind, even with concern for the properties directly at material interfaces. These sensors then get placed in instruments that might image and characterize, among other things, the most distant and largest structures known to exist. That is cool. Being able to design and build the instruments and tools that help enable the cutting-edge missions that our customers achieve is one of the most rewarding aspects of working in the field.
I encourage others to pursue a career in space. There are many opportunities and ways to have impact in this field. For those early in their career, I think they can find great people to work with, great mentors and a chance to have an impact right from the start.
