People

SRI's innovative thinking depends directly on the individuals who work here. Meet members of our team and learn why they joined SRI - you may discover that you would like to join the team, too. Visit Careers @ SRI for descriptions of current openings.

Focus @ SRI:
Optical detection and optical materials development

Title:
Senior Research Engineer, Applied Optics Laboratory

Day in the Life @ SRI:
I can be firing laser pulses at materials in the lab, characterizing the pulses, and measuring transmitted and scattered laser energy from the material. Or I can be reducing the data I took the day before. Or I can be mixing new materials and characterizing their properties. Lately, I've been writing a proposal.

Before SRI:
I was a physicist at the Environmental Protection Agency in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, working on passive remote sensing of air pollutants with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry.

Academics:
M.S. in physics and B.S. in astronomy, University of Oklahoma. Since then I've periodically taken classes at Stanford University and at Foothill and Canada Colleges in technical writing, Perl, C, Java, and Spanish.

Why SRI?:
I love the way my job changes all the time. I can be making laboratory measurements or field measurements, reducing data, writing reports or proposals, or giving presentations. I also like the culture of fitness - - lots of people in my group work out at lunchtime. The people at SRI and smart and interesting, and it's fun interacting with them.

Inspiration (what motivates you):
Working with a group of talented, enthusiastic, hard-working people with great senses of humor and a terrific team spirit. I feel very lucky to be a part of APSL.

Away from the Office:
I'm getting ready to spend a week hiking in one of my favorite places in the world - - Tuolumne Meadows. I'm a former runner, and I enjoy swimming, biking, and competitive racewalking. At Christmastime I perform with The Gryphon Carolers at local retirement homes.

Languages:
I'm a pretty good finger speller and I can still write in a secret code that I invented in the fifth grade (useful for taking private notes in a meeting). I've taken Latin, German, Spanish, and American Sign Language, but forgotten most of them because I never used them.

Proudest Accomplishment:
Having raised two beautiful teenage daughters who are smart, responsible, and kind. They're both teenagers now, and I can tell that they will be wonderful adults.

Words of Wisdom for New SRI Team Members:
It's important to ask questions about your customers' needs and listen to what they tell you. This works better than having a technical "solution" and then going in search of a problem to solve with it.

Favorites:
I enjoy reading books that are summaries of modern physics written for laypersons, like "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory", by Brian Greene, or books by John Gribbin or Stephen Hawking. I am a Trekkie from way back - - and I love TNG and DS9 (all you fellow Trekkies will know what that means). My favorite Web site is The Donder Home Page (www.donder.com). Do YOU know the correct name of Santa's seventh reindeer?