Christopher Birkinbine

Experience

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  Mindworks Media Studios

  Apr 1999 - Sept 1999

  Camera man / Gaff / Grip

  Operated Camera, ran Lighting and audio cables for TV Comericials, Private Videos, and other such bradcast media.

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  Environment Control

  May 1999 - Jul 2000

  Supervisor

  Supervised the janitorial services of several large buildings in downtown Boise. Inspected and corrected employee services.

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  Maxximum Video Creations Inc.

  Aug 1999 - Aug 2000

  Animator

  Design, and create 3-D models, and animations for commercials with Light wave 3-D

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  SEL

  Jun 2002 - Jul 2003

  Assembler

  -Build/Assemble circuit boards for Power Realy stystem-Through hole soldering and circuit board repair-Parts forming and preperation

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  US Army 1st EN BN

  Aug 2003 - Feb 2008

  Combat Engineering Soldier deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, work done contributed to the battalions exploitation of over 370 enemy caches consisting of 28 tons of munitions and weapons, founding and destruction of over 150 improvised devices, fortifications of 21 government buildings and coalition camps in the Al Anbar Province, and clearing of several hundred kilometers of roads, supporting six battalions in the Ar Ramadi and Habbaniyah areas with combat engineer operations for six other camps in the Ar Ramadi area. Show less

  • SGT / Signal and Communicatons Officer / Physical Security Officer

    Nov 2006 - Feb 2008

  • SGT / Combat Engineer

    Aug 2006 - Nov 2006

  • PFC-SPC / Operations Clerk / Training NCO

    Aug 2005 - Nov 2006

  • PV1-PFC /Combat Engineer

    Aug 2003 - Aug 2006
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  Biomedics

  Mar 2008 - Aug 2009

  Phlebotomist / Quality Assurance

  Set up plasmapheresis machines. Draw blood samples. Verify paperwork adheres to Federal and international standards.

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  Pullman Regional Hospital

  Aug 2009 - May 2013

  Phlebotomist

  Draw blood samples, centerfuge and separate specimens.

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  University of Idaho

  Mar 2012 - May 2013

  Develop procedures and perform experiments measuring force between field cooled and non-field cooled superconductors with various magnet arrays. Provide data to group for energy flywheel project for NASA Construct an Atomic Layering Deposition system. Run system, coat Nano-springs with various compounds such as GaN

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Superconductors)

    Aug 2012 - May 2013

  • Undergraduate Research Assistant (Nano-Springs)

    Mar 2012 - Dec 2012
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  A Dash of Science

  Jun 2017 - now

  Host and Executive Producer

  Science communication through public speaking, podcasting and other digitial formats. Science consulting for books, movies, podcasts and television.

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  NASA - Armstrong Flight Research Center

  Aug 2018 - Apr 2019

  Range Systems Engineer - Ikhana Predator B Unmanned Science and Research Aircraft Systems

  Supported flight testing of the Ikhana platform in support of ACAS Xu Integrated Collision Avoidance and Detect and Avoid Capability for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in the National Air Space (NAS) project.Developed solutions for various issues related to video systems and Ku Sat Com connection issues required for successful command and control of aircraft

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  NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Jan 2020 - now

  Project and Program Management for Space projects and Partnerships at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.Advise, administer, supervise and perform professional, scientific and technical work concerned with engineering, systems and processes related to space projects and partnerships at NASA AFRCConduct special studies for NASA programs and projectsPerform technical managerial functions including resources analysis, technical management, technical engineering operations management, configuration management and risk managementOrganize and contribute to planning, design, test and evaluation, cost analyses, program management, project and quality management.Act as a Technical Monitor and Contract Officer's Representative to Science Mission Directorate Selected Small Business Innovation Research awardeesArmstrong Flight Research Center POC for Space Technology Mission Directorate Announcement for Collaboration Show less Mission Information and Test Systems Directorate, Range Engineering BranchDesign Radar and Telemetry Systems for use with test flights of various space and aerospace vehicles. Communicate with customers to determine hardware needs for telemetry, radar, visual, and audio of test vehicles.Lead Range Systems Engineer for Radar Information Processing System (RIPS) 3.0, a system designed to capture, record and forward radar data, to other pedestals such as communications, video and telemetry dish orientation. Design, build and test hardware upgrades from end of life RIPS 2.0 systemServe as a mentor for NASA Pathways interns. Develop work plans, review designs, presentations and oversee solutions performed by student interns assigned to the Range Engineering Branch at NASA Armstrong Flight Research CenterServe as a NASA representative to agency level working groups to include Mission Next Generation Voice, Imagery Engineering Steering Counsel, Mission Operations Standards.Serve as a Contracting Officer Representative for NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot ProgramsLead Systems Engineer and Project Manager for Virtual Presence, a system designed to extend remote monitoring of video, communications and telemetry of local Armstrong Flight Research Center missions. Show less Gather requirements solution for a fully independent mobile operations facility to assist in the testing and monitoring of autonomous air and rotorcraft in support of the Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign project.Designed solutions for communications systems including ground-to-air, ground-to-ground and Land Mobile Radio circuits in UHF/VHF bands, as well as a fully integrated intercom system with audio recording and VoIP interfacesDesigned solutions for the video systems including internal routing in 1080P, external video monitoring, 28 fully routable video display and video recording. Designed TSPI system utilizing ADS-B 1090 and 987 Mhz for situational awareness and integrated with remote systems for monitoringDesigned internal and external networks allowing for both fiber and satellite communications, and helped with lated expansion to include LTE cellular connections. Show less

  • Project Manager - Space Projects and Partnerships

    Dec 2022 - now

  • Project Manager - Aeronautics

    Apr 2022 - Apr 2023

  • Range Systems Engineer - Range Infrastructure

    Jun 2013 - Dec 2022

  • Range Systems Engineer - National Campaign Range Architect

    Jan 2020 - Aug 2020