I am currently working on requirement verifications, technical reviews, and debugging code for ICPS, the second stage rocket for the Artemis II program (moon exploration program led by NASA). I am particularly interested in AI and automation to ensure safety and to support the increased launch schedule for ULA (United Launch Alliance).

Initial developer and technical lead for development of PrideView, the frontend to an electronic procedure system (PRIDE) which aids a user in correctly executing procedures by providing live feedback as the user completes each step. It can be used to automatically or manually execute procedures. TRACLabs specialized in traded-control between human and machine - allowing users to switch between manual and automated control so they can use automation where trusted but override it when human knowledge and intution prefer a non-automated path. There are different levels of automation as well as live telemetry and commanding, allowing PRIDE to control robots or be applied to any industry that uses procedures (with or without telemetry and commanding). PRIDE captures all interactions with the procedure to a database, allowing for playback and analysis. I wrote the interface to provide this human/computer interaction in native JavasScript, HTML, and CSS. It uses a Restful interface, stores data in a MySQL database, and runs on AWS allowing multiple people to view/interact with the procedure as it is being executed. It uses a REST interface and we’ve provided APIs so it can interact with other systems, such as HoloLens, Google Glass, Oculus Quest, and Real Wear HMT-1. Our team follows the Agile development methodology, using Jira to track issues, Bitbucket to manage code, Jenkins for unit/integration testing in a CD/CI pipleline, and Confluence for documenting design decisions. I work closely with the QA team to ensure comprehensive end-to-end and regression testing, providing for very dependable software. Pride was used in mission control for a spacewalk in 2013 and then became a commercial product that is currently being used world-wide by space, chemical, and oil companies. Pride has thousands of users who created millions of procedures which are critical to Fortune 500 companies work stream. We have reduced procedural errors by 98%, saving over $8 million annually.

Proposed and worked on Small Business Independent Research (SBIR) contracts. The latest one, Electronic Procedures for Medical Operations, provided me the opportunity to work with a NASA physician who rewrote the medical procedures that are used aboard the International Space Station. I customized our software to support authoring the medical procedures, including writing a translator that uses XSLT to convert the XML both ways between our Procedure Authoring tool and the International Space Station Procedure Viewer (IPV).

Developed software to help automated monitoring systems for NASA. Evaluated and applied state-of-the-art planning and scheduling technologies to the deliberative layer of a robotic architecture. Used Adverserial Planner (AP) to build the top level of a system which demonstrated cooperative work and traded-control between a robot and human. Used CERA to build an intelligent user-interface for long-term mission planning. And used the JPL-developed ASPEN/CASPER planning system to develop flexible plans for an Air Force satellite automation project.

Helped with the design and development of a planning and scheduling system (COMPASS) written in Ada. Worked directly with project leads in St Louis to ensure its successful integration into the production plants. COMPASS was used throughout the company for scheduling the production of aircraft on the shop floors. Made presentations to corporate management showing its benefits. COMPASS became a corporate common project for McDonnel Douglas and has continued to be updated and used by Boeing. Presented our advances in planning and scheduling technologies at NASA Planning and Scheduling workshops as well as national conferences. Presented a novel approach for Genetic Algorithms to solve sequencing problems at a Foundations of Genetic Algorithms conference.

Was part of the systems engineering team for the Software Support Environment (SSE), which laid the foundation for hardware and software aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This included writing requirements, coming up with the initial and detailed design for some of the systems. Development of the SSE followed government guidelines and the Waterfall Development Lifecycle.Used CASE tools and methodologies (such as Buhr/Booch, DeMarco, and Schlaer/Mellor) to document the system requirements and the initial design. Participated in design review meetings including System Design Reviews, Preliminary Design Reviews and Critical Design Reviews.

Managed PCs and VAX/VMS environments as part of the IT department I supported graphics software, maintained both hardware and software systems, including buying and installing systems, running cables, soldering RS232 ports, doing backups and restores, upgrading and training on the software, and writing software programs for the company.