Michael Baca Email and Phone Number

Research and implement new methods for utilizing data collected by various imaging systems involving non-traditional methods. Model optical characteristics of systems including the phenomenology of reflectance and emission from a variety of targets and materials. Responsible for design and testing of research software for data processing and validation of data. Provide recommendations for future planning involving changes in data and collection requirements. Prepare software along with report… Show more Research and implement new methods for utilizing data collected by various imaging systems involving non-traditional methods. Model optical characteristics of systems including the phenomenology of reflectance and emission from a variety of targets and materials. Responsible for design and testing of research software for data processing and validation of data. Provide recommendations for future planning involving changes in data and collection requirements. Prepare software along with report for integration into a data analysis toolkit. Integrating and completing algorithms for analysis in Python and associated JavaScript for a client-server based system using HandleBars.js and Node,js utilizing an AWS S3 bucket for data and results storage. Show less

Provide systems engineering and technical assistance to government customer for deployed and future sensor systems for various collection scenarios including activity based indicators (ABI), wide area mapping, and spectral analysis. Responsibilities included architecture development, requirements definition, system testing, deployment, operations, retrograde, and post-mission storage of systems. Mature program requirements in order to development interface control documents. Prepare information… Show more Provide systems engineering and technical assistance to government customer for deployed and future sensor systems for various collection scenarios including activity based indicators (ABI), wide area mapping, and spectral analysis. Responsibilities included architecture development, requirements definition, system testing, deployment, operations, retrograde, and post-mission storage of systems. Mature program requirements in order to development interface control documents. Prepare information in coordination with other organizations prior to presentation to configuration control board and other approval boards. Utilize RDNG for requirements management to ensure enterprise-wide collaboration. Work with prime contractors to develop and write interim and final reports identifying successes, errors and providing suggestions to improve future capabilities and information dissemination. Work with other government agencies to collaborate on issues impacting multiple users/agencies to improve capability and utility of assets prior to and during deployments. Provide input and guidance on sensor components, calibration planning, and mission and test opportunities. Work with a COTS vendor to create a workflow management toolset for customer relation management. Identify requirements for the workflow system, recommend tasks for development sprints, and interface between the development team and end users to ensure desired capabilities are implemented. Attend community meetings and forums in support of customer. Show less

Various positions working at company and government sites. Most recent position on a contract for DTRA to identify and evaluate technologies for processing and analyzing structured and unstructured data to identify emerging threats associated with violent extremist organizations (VEOs). Efforts include evaluating software (COTS, GOTS, and prototypes) to determine their utility for the customer and modify software to achieve customer goals such as implementing open source software for natural… Show more Various positions working at company and government sites. Most recent position on a contract for DTRA to identify and evaluate technologies for processing and analyzing structured and unstructured data to identify emerging threats associated with violent extremist organizations (VEOs). Efforts include evaluating software (COTS, GOTS, and prototypes) to determine their utility for the customer and modify software to achieve customer goals such as implementing open source software for natural language processing (NLP) to populate a network graph on a high performance computing system and identifying capability gaps from results. August 2008 – May 2013Worked with JIEDDO on the Joint Integrated Signatures Program to collect ground truth signatures related to homemade improvised explosive devices. Developed methodologies for analyzing spectral data based on ground truth and airborne data to understand the differences seen in lower spatial resolution data versus laboratory results. Maintained a compendium containing VNIR/SWIR and LWIR measurements of hundreds of materials relevant to the IED problem. Attended multiple field tests providing support for test preparation, target maintenance, ground truth data, as well as data analysis from participating sensors. Developed user interface in MATLAB for ingesting FTIR sensor data, creating quicklook plots, adjusting for biases, and calculating chemical concentrations while accounting for saturation effects. Show less

June 2007 – August 2008Responsible for a group of employees working at a customer site (UFAC). Provide interface for employees working around the country with the customer. Provide data analysis, programming, hardware selection, operation, implementation, and test design for MASINT research programs. Responsibilities included test design, setup, and data collection by integrating various contractor equipment for comparison against a variety of sources for three collection events held at… Show more June 2007 – August 2008Responsible for a group of employees working at a customer site (UFAC). Provide interface for employees working around the country with the customer. Provide data analysis, programming, hardware selection, operation, implementation, and test design for MASINT research programs. Responsibilities included test design, setup, and data collection by integrating various contractor equipment for comparison against a variety of sources for three collection events held at Fort Hood.August 2004 – May 2007Designed and created Java Server Pages and other capabilities for implementation as part of a workflow data manager for NGA for an automated system for processing space-based data via a web based system. Software development included both GUI and server-side scripting to provide information as requested and identifying errors in code (data management and data processing code) to resolve processing failures within the workflow process. Developed tools to analyze the data collected by the Deep Impact fly-by spacecraft IR spectrometer and visible sensors as part of the mission science team. Identified mechanism that caused an increase bias voltage for the spectrometer FPA; defined calibration experiments for Deep Impact sensors with en-route to encounter; developed the linearization coefficients used in the IR data pipeline; participated in encounter when the impactor hit comet 9P/Tempel 1 on 4 July 2005 including real time data analysis during impact to monitor dust expansion and absorption and emission features from instrument data. Show less

Managed and developed programs related to EO/IR sensors and radiation hardened (RH) electronics for the Producibility and Manufacturing Technology deputate at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in support of missile defense platforms, e.g. seekers and satellites. Programs developed to meet program performance goals and schedule while increasing quality and reliability and decreasing cost. Some component requirements derived from demanding environment including high velocity and acceleration… Show more Managed and developed programs related to EO/IR sensors and radiation hardened (RH) electronics for the Producibility and Manufacturing Technology deputate at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in support of missile defense platforms, e.g. seekers and satellites. Programs developed to meet program performance goals and schedule while increasing quality and reliability and decreasing cost. Some component requirements derived from demanding environment including high velocity and acceleration, low power consumption, and long-term operability/reliability. Programs included components such as two-color HgCdTe CMOS focal plane arrays, non-volatile memory, silicon carbide (SiC) as an alternative to beryllium for mirrors, high-efficiency cryocoolers, VLWIR FPAs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and A/D converters. Monitored program execution of SBIR projects in the EO/IR and RH topics. Other responsibilities including developing letters and reports to be sent through the MDA Front Office to groups within and outside of MDA including the Under Secretary of Defense and in response to congressional requests. Show less

Participated in a number of space-based programs including RAMOS, MSX, SBIRS Low, and SBIRS-High. Responsibilities included: planning on-orbit data collections for calibration; executing ground based calibration programs for space-based sensors; deriving error budgets for sensor systems; modeling satellite orbits and planned experiments to optimize data storage and ensure complete download to ground stations; developing calibration plans and designing data analysis tools; developing software… Show more Participated in a number of space-based programs including RAMOS, MSX, SBIRS Low, and SBIRS-High. Responsibilities included: planning on-orbit data collections for calibration; executing ground based calibration programs for space-based sensors; deriving error budgets for sensor systems; modeling satellite orbits and planned experiments to optimize data storage and ensure complete download to ground stations; developing calibration plans and designing data analysis tools; developing software tools, algorithms and user interfaces for hyperspectral data and calibration analysis using MODTRAN. Optimized a synthetic radar analysis system by utilizing MATLAB for rapid development of new concepts and for comparison with original system to identify errors. Show less