Nicholas Waldram Email & Phone Number

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Facilitating roll-out of the "Simple Planner" con-ops for implementation in Perseverance operations. Simple Planner (SP) incorporates autonomy into the rover software such that fewer resources (workforce, cost, time) are consumed by the ground planning team, and more science can be done per sol on Mars due to on-board resource optimization in scheduling. Led planning and testbed execution decisions for the SP Operational Readiness Test (SP-ORT) which exercised end-to-end mission system capabilities across most operations teams and systems, involving planning rover activities, and executing tactical plans on JPL's high fidelity Vehicle Systems Testbed (VSTB). Lead weekly SP Working Group (SPWG), prioritizing and delegating SP capabilities “stop-list.” Brief M20 Project Team on SP status in operations weekly.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Responsible for testing the capabilities in the On-Board Planner (OBP)/SP FSW. In this role I design and write procedures for the Workstation Test Set (WSTS) and other testbeds which translate requirements into a comprehensive set of test cases to verify and stress-test key capabilities. Additionally, I contribute to the team’s python library infrastructure to support testing beyond native WSTS simulation capabilities (poking in temperatures, battery state-of-charge monitoring, automating test case pass/fail evaluation).

Pasadena, Ca, Us

As a member of the Parallelism Working Group, I am responsible for providing guidance to uplink planning regarding the simultaneous execution of rover activities, particularly as it concerns CPU utilization and task distribution. In this role I coordinate with the instrument and systems engineers, rover planners, and mission managers to design and execute tests in the VSTB and analyze those tests to buy off risk prior to execution on Mars.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Oversaw all Project and Systems level V&V activities, and managed and authored Project Systems Engineering (PSE) products as they approached maturity. PSE ownership extends to the Test-As-You-Fly Exceptions (TAYFE), Incompressible Test List (ITL), and all Project-level procedures and as-runs. In this role I was the systems engineer responsible for leading the team’s V&V process through the Certification of Flight Readiness (COFR), and ensuring compliance with JPL institutional guidelines. Led the V&V team through a successful Pre-Ship Review in June 2023.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

As Vehicle Systems Engineer (VSE), served as the systems engineering uplink role for both tactical planning and campaign implementation. Data Management (DMX) team engineer for Cruise and Surface mission phases, staffed for tactical downlink and responsible for sol-to-sol management as well as long term trending of onboard data partition behavior and health. Strategic work encompassed tool development for improvement of tactical processes, including ownership of the heater table generation script run tactically.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Designed and executed FSW simulation tests in WSTS to close and regress surface phase Wakeup/Shutdown requirements as member of the Fault Protection team. Managed all V&V overlays for flight dictionaries delivered to ATLO. Audited requirements for subsystem deliveries to ATLO as part of the Hardware Readiness Certification Record (HRCR) process. Tracked and reported status of requirements, and developed widgets and other visualization tools compatible with DOORS Next Generation (DNG) software.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Researched methods to integrate Model-Based Mission Assurance (MBMA) into a broader model-based paradigm, modeled hazardous systems for NASA's MBSE Pathfinder Sounding Rocket Program, and prototyped interfaces to SysML for use by SysML non-experts.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Performed FSW simulation fault-protection tests in SoftSim, reported on overall V&V closure status, and coordinated with team members to close requirements in DOORS.

Pasadena, Ca, Us

Studied Jupiter from infrared telescope data under the supervision of Dr. Glenn Orton. Processed data to assign radiance values using the Data Reduction Manager (DRM) in the Interactive Data Language (IDL), and submitted outputs to the Juno Science Operations Center (JSOC) team in order to inform the execution of JUNO’s perijoves. Trended historical data to develop constraints on dynamics slightly north of the equator, identify the presence of impacts, detect changes in oval brightness, examine variability in atmospheric features, create polar projections from cylindrical maps, and graphically forecast weather patterns using wind speed arrays based on latitude.

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

Conducted independent physics research under the supervision of Prof. Daniel Snowden-Ifft. Characterized resolution in the DRIFT (Directional Recoil Identification from Tracks) dark matter particle detector for light dark matter detection. Data collected over the summer is useful to the DRIFT collaboration in that it includes ionization tracks mimicking tracks characteristic of particles in LDMA (Light Dark Matter at Accelerators) experiments. Constructed and tested multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC) planes, wrote automated wire-winding code in C and tested outputs using an oscilloscope, and performed data analysis in R.

Bachelor Of Arts In Physics With Distinction, Magna Cum Laude, Minor In Mathematics, 3.78 Gpa

Education record