Curriculum Vitae

Joel Aycock

PO Box 1659
Keaau, Hi 96749
phone: 808-968-6961

Email: joel (at) aloha.net
WWW: HTTP://www.aloha.net/~joel

Born 30 June 1950
Single, good health
US citizen

Education:

1968-1972: Reed College, Portland, Oregon

Physics/Math major with coursework in chemistry, electronics, computer programming, Russian language, and machine shop use. Senior work included an independent thesis on the numerical simulation of a proto-planetary dust cloud.

BA Physics 1972

Graduate Record Exam scores (10/71)
verbal 720
quantitative 750

1976: UH Institute for Astronomy and University of Hawaii

graduate coursework in astrophysics and computer science

Employment:

1993-Present: Observing Assistant

WM Keck Telescopes, Waiamea, Hawaii
Observing operations and support at the 10-meter Keck optical and infrared telescopes, located on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at an elevation of 4200m

The Keck is an alt-az mounted telescope. It has segmented thin primary mirror design, with active computer control of all segments to maintain primary figure and phasing. F/15, F/25 and F/40 (chopping) secondaries utilize cass, forward cass, yoke (bent cass), and Nasmyth foci (with tertiary). Cassegrain and forward cass instruments are mounted in rotators. Auto-guiding supports sky-angle, elevation(vertical)-angle, sky-rotation, and color dispersion-compensation guiding modes.

Instrumentation systems include hi- and lo-resolution visible spectrometers with imaging and multi-slit capability, near-infrared camera, and far-infrared imaging spectrometer.

Computer systems include Sun/SunOS/Solaris, VAX/VMS, IBM/PC/Windows, and VME/VxWorks

Duties and Responsibilities:
Maintain safety and integrity of equipment and personnel at the observatory

Work in close cooperation with visiting astronomers, staff scientists, engineers, and support personnel

Bring all systems, including telescope, dome, instruments, and computers, to operational status for observing

Operate the telescope, dome, rotators, chopper, secondary, guiders, primary mirror support system, and computers as required for efficient astronomical observation

Carry out routine and special engineering observations as required to maintain high performance of optical systems

Perform secondary collimation and primary mirror stack configuration as required for optimum telescope and instrument performance

Set up, configure, and carry out astronomical observations, using facility instruments, in conjunction with the Keck service observing program

Monitor weather and environment for conditions that might compromise observations or endanger equipment or personnel

Maintain instruments: LN2/LHe transfers, performance checks, trouble-shooting and fault recovery as required

Perform on-site trouble-shooting of software and hardware systems as required (mechanical, optical, electronic, computer, and cryogenic)

Maintain nightly engineering and observation logs

Create trouble/fault reports and liaison with sea-level support personnel as necessary

Participate in daytime operations support including staff meetings, instrument support, data reduction, log and report updates, and documentation

Complete periodic training and certification in first aid and CPR for medical emergencies at the summit

Additional functions:
Assisted with installation, configuration, and characterization of LWS, OSCIR, and MIRLIN mid-IR instruments

Programming of operations and support software in Fortran, C, DCL, and Cshell

Ongoing developement of WWW documentation (HTML, Java)

1985-1993: Telescope Operator

UK Infrared Telescope, Joint Astronomy Center, Hilo, Hawaii
Nighttime operations and support of the 3.8m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, located on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii

Instruments included near- and far-infrared cameras, polarimeters, coronagraph, and spectrometers

Support computer systems primarily VAX/VMS

Duties and Responsibilities:
Bring all systems, including telescope, instruments, and computers, to operational status for observing

Maintain instruments: Ln2/He transfers, check/change batteries, check beam profiles and image quality, tip-up tilt flanges or collimating mirrors as necessary, monitor dark currents and adjust gate voltage, update instrumental zero points, setup and align Fabry-Perots

Telescope/secondary collimation as necessary, monitor and adjust chopper wave form, frequency, and throw to suit current observing program

Train and advise visiting astronomers for optimal utilization of the telescope and instrumentation

Monitor instrument performance and sky quality, modify observing procedure as required

Maintain operations and instrument logs

Perform on-site troubleshooting of software and hardware systems (mechanical, optical, and electronic)

Create trouble/fault reports and liaison with sea-level support personnel

Periodic training and certification in first aid and CPR for medical emergencies at the summit

Perform independent service observations and data reduction

Work in close cooperation with visiting astronomers, staff scientists, engineers, and support personnel

Additionally:
Developed and maintained the computer-based nightly operations log, the fault report/response system, and other software logs and databases used by astronomers, staff scientists, and engineers

1977-1985: Telescope Operator/Crew Chief

University of Hawaii LURE Observatory, Kula, Hi
Assigned duties were satellite and Lunar LASER ranging from LURE Observatory at the summit of Haleakala on Maui (elevation 3050m), for the UH Institute for Astronomy, under contract to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Promoted to Crew Chief 1979

Instruments and Facilities:
LURESCOPE: multi-lens (80 x 8" refractor) telescope
LUNASTAT: 17" refractor/coelostat telescope
Class IV NdYAG LASER, 300mJ/100ps
single-photon photomultiplier detectors
Cesium clock
sub-nanosecond timing equipment
HP Digitizing Oscilloscope (10ps resolution)
MicroVAX, PDP-11, Data General Nova computers
Z80 micro-controllers

Duties and Responsibilities:
Responsible for scheduling, maintenance, and operation of all systems: optical, mechanical, and software, and for data reduction and transmission, in support of satellite and Lunar ranging activities for NASA GSFC

Additional Work:
Construction of both analog and digital circuitry for monitor/control systems

Computer programming of operational and control/logging systems in FORTRAN (DG Nova, DEC PDP-11 and LSI-11 computers) and assembler (Z-80 microprocessors)

Maintenance and operation of the Mees Observatory machine shop, including lathe, mill, band saw, and drill press

Design and machining of one-off optical and mechanical assemblies

Design and construction of photomultiplier receive package for LURESCOPE; test and modify aperture stops and beam directors

Design and construction of optical beam director-decollimator for LUNASTAT LASER satellite transmit/receive package

Construction of photomultiplier tube housings for LUNASTAT and LURESCOPE

Develop interactive dome control program in Z80 assembly language.

Local and network television production in Hawaii:
Setup, calibration, and operation of both hardwire and radio-remote audio, video, and telecommunications equipment. Clients included ABC, NBC, CBS, KGMB, KHON, KITV, KING, ESPN, PBS

Data Technical Analysts, Honolulu, Hi

Data International, LTD, Honolulu, Hi

Anti-Entropic Enterprises, Honolulu, Hi
(silver waste salvage processing)

KING Broadcasting, Portland, Oregon

Reed Institute, Portland, Oregon