Mechanical Engineer
Nasa Infrared Telescope Facility - Institute For Astronomy, Univ. Of Hawaii
Facility Engineer for the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF): • In charge of assessing and solving mechanical issues to ensure daily operations. • Managed a $500k Dome Resurfacing Project which involved Lead Abatement. Worked with an Architectural Company to define the project requirements. Produced the Bid Package in coordination with NASA and the University administration. Selected a contractor. Oversaw the construction effort and approved inspections performed by the A&E company.• Managed dome drive system refurbishment project: specified and integrated new servo-motors into the existing system, identified and analyzed the root cause of erratic locking of the dome and implemented design improvements accordingly.→ Helped writing the requirements and the bid package to select a contractor that successfully resurfaced the dome rail.• Directed telescope day crew on maintenance and upgrade tasks.• Defined the scope of work and technical requirements of a bid package to select a vendor to work on 2 facility projects: 1) Structural analysis of our telescope multiple instrument mount, and 2) Modelization of the telescope balancing. Provided all the receivables and any necessary technical support. Reviewed and validated / accepted the results.Developed mechanical design of astronomical instrumentation mechanisms, including opto-mechanical systems, room temperature and cryogenic motion systems, and cryogenic vacuum systems:• Design of a $4M facility-class echelle immersion-grating spectrometer (iSHELL) for the 3-meter NASA Telescope:→ Cryo-mechanisms, optic mounts, vacuum and cooling systems design. Systems integration, testing and troubleshooting.→ Systems engineering, project management, procurement & accounting.• Completed the design of a monolithic 4K x 4K CCD system (Half-Degree Imager) for the 0.9m WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak, AZ.• Design of other diverse image detection systems (Wide field CCD, infrared…)http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/