Meet: Walt Miller

What I do now
I'm part of the support services staff for the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, or KAO. I've worked at NASA's Ames Research Center for almost 10 years as manager of a small group of engineers and draftspeople. We are responsible for design upgrades to KAO telescope system hardware.

What I did before
Prior to working at NASA Ames I was a laser design engineer and consultant. As a child I was always interested in science and technology, and I knew that I would have a career in science or engineering. I studied physics and electrical engineering at MIT, and went to graduate school at Stanford to get a Masters in electrical engineering. The great weather in this part of California (near San Francisco) quickly convinced me to forsake my roots on the East Coast, and I have lived and worked in Silicon Valley since the early 1970s.

Personal tidbits
My greatest satisfaction on the job comes from seeing equipment which I have designed being used on board the KAO. My hobby is ham radio, and I have been licensed since I was a teenager. Among other things, I enjoy chasing exotic propagation modes by bouncing my radio signal off meteor trails or the moon. My daughter, Lauren, who is seven years old, occasionally joins me on amateur radio "mountaintopping" expeditions.