Dan Burger Email & Phone Number

Baltimore, Md, Us

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore handles the operations for the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes on behalf of NASA, as well as the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope set to launch by May 2027. In my role, I'll focus on full-stack software development for the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), a repository that preserves data from these missions among others (https://archive.stsci.edu).

Mountain View, Ca, Us

In February 2022, I had the incredible opportunity to join Google's YouTube Ads Engineering Productivity team in February 2022, where I played a role in creating internal tools to enhance the productivity of our talented team of engineers. Working at the brand-new Google Bay View office in Mountain View, I felt invigorated by the buzz of innovation and creativity around me.My main project was to improve an internal site that generated dynamic workflow diagrams that could easily be attached to bug reports. As the workflow progressed, the diagrams would update in real-time, keeping all stakeholders informed and aligned on project progress. While I was still getting up to speed on the existing code and components, the layoffs of January 2023 unfortunately brought my time with Google to a close. Despite this setback, I am proud to have gained experience during my tenure, and I was deeply impressed by Google's unparalleled ability to build and maintain complex work at large scale.While at Google, I took on a challenge to enhance my skills to be a more effective employee. I successfully completed a coaching program provided by The How Skills, LLC, which specializes in time management, problem-solving, and other practical skills that are invaluable in a professional environment. This program was specifically tailored for neurodivergent individuals, and I was proud to have been a part of a community that recognizes and supports diverse talent.

Nashville, Tennessee, Us

During my time at Vanderbilt, I provided web and mobile solutions to various research groups, including those focused on astrophysics, K-12 education, high-performance computing, and technology for individuals with autism. My responsibilities included full-stack development, server maintenance, and customer support for these projects. I worked with partners such as the American Association for Variable Star Observers, Hypatia Catalog, College Autism Network, and Jobs for Humanity.My main accomplishment at Vanderbilt was founding Filtergraph.com, an online platform for visualizing large datasets. The platform was used by NASA astrophysicists and over 1,000 data professionals in various fields. I also explored commercial opportunities for Filtergraph and served as the entrepreneurial lead for a National Science Foundation Innovation Corps grant, which led to an agreement with the NASA Exoplanet Archive in 2017.Another important aspect of my work was advocating for the employment of adults on the autism spectrum. I did this through web and mobile projects, panel discussions, and my appearance on 60 Minutes.Finally, I supervised more than 10 undergraduate students during my time at Vanderbilt. Many of these students have gone on to work at top companies such as Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

Greenbelt, Md, Us

Between 2009 and 2011, I collaborated with the Astrochemistry Laboratory of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on a project to develop a user-friendly computer interface for the Lynx digital signal analyzer. I used the Java programming language and the Netbeans development tool to create this interface, which was designed to support an instrument that could be used to determine the elemental composition of planets and objects within our solar system.I started working on this project during the 2009 Vanderbilt Physics and Astronomy REU program and continued it during the 2010 NASA Lunar & Planetary Science Academy. During the latter program, I had the opportunity to collect data on the sliding rocks of the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, California.Following my time at NASA Goddard, the instrument was selected to be included in the NASA Dragonfly mission to Titan, the largest of Saturn’s moons. It will launch in 2027 and arrive in Titan in 2034.

Princeton, New Jersey, Us

I developed a solution for Covance's IT infrastructure that improved the efficiency and speed of processing inter-office change requests using Excel scripting. Through this project, I gained experience in corporate IT management and office communications.Additionally, I managed paperwork associated with an office program that allowed employees to wear jeans on Thursdays in exchange for a donation to charity.Covance was purchased by LabCorp and became LabCorp Drug Development following my departure.

Nashville, Tn, Us

During the summer of 2007, I created a software interface using LabVIEW for the SPEX 1403 Raman spectrometer at Fisk University. The interface was designed to make it easy for users to align the spectrometer and generate a graph of the Raman spectra. In addition, it allowed the user to save the file in a format that is readable by Microsoft Excel.The software interface was highly successful and was able to read Raman spectra in a quick and efficient manner. As a result of this work, I had an article published in the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal.

Master Of Science (Ms), Computer Science

Bachelor Of Engineering (Be), Computer Engineering