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Meet: Kaiser Adeni
Electrical Engineer
NASA Ames Research Center, Mt.View, CA
What I do
I am an electrical engineer responsible for the design and development of electronic
systems onboard the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, or KAO. I started my career in
1986 after I graduated with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering
from Northwestern University. I am currently pursuing my second Master's degree
at Santa Clara University. My degree will be in Engineering Management. On the
KAO, I am a project engineer responsible for the design, development and installation
of electronic systems. For the past nine months I have been working on the design
of consoles and electronic systems for SOFIA which is the next generation Infrared
Airborne Observatory.
How I got started
My interest in NASA began when I was given the opportunity in graduate school
to work on a Small Business Innovative Research project. The project involved
the feasibility of an acoustic detector that could be placed on an astronaut's
helmet to detect the different cosmic particles the astronaut would encounter
in space.
The best thing about my job is that I get to design and
integrate different electrical and electronic systems on the KAO. Unlike the industry
where you perform the design and upgrades on a single product.
As a kid I was very interested in space, UFOs and the planet
Mars held a particular fascination for me. I used to build toy planes and toy
cars powered with rubber bands. Early in my life, I realized that math, physics
and chemistry were easy to understand. I had a difficult time with botany, zoology
and I hated dissecting animals in class. I had a proclivity toward engineering
science and as a child had a propensity to read more space fiction material than
text books. The classic book "From Earth to the Moon" was my favorite.
My parents always knew that I would be an engineer. My
parents, both doctors, and my elder brother (also a doctor) were very much a part
of my decision making. I took the GRE examination (very similar to the SAT examination)
and as a result was accepted into several graduate programs in the US. I chose
Northwestern University because I wanted to stay close to my aging parents.
Personal tidbits
I am married and have two children. My daughter, Anika, is 2 1/2 years old and
my son Kelsen is 3 months old. Anika has visited the KAO several times and insists
on playing with the computers. I play cricket for recreation. This is a game similar
to baseball and is played by most commonwealth countries. I enjoy tennis, football
and travel to foreign countries.
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