Résumé

Bradford Castalia

 

 

 

 

Home Address

712 North Seventh Avenue

Tucson, Arizona 85705

 

520-624-6629

Castalia@idaeim.com

 

 

Work Address

Department of Planetary Sciences

University of Arizona

1541 East University Boulevard

Tucson, Arizona  85721-0063

 

520-621-2197

Castalia@Arizona.edu

 

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Planetary Image Research Laboratory

HiRISE Operations Center

Sonett Space Sciences Building, Room 102C

 


 

Employment

 

 

 

12/07 - Present

Principal Applications Systems Analyst

6/98 - 12/07

Senior Applications Systems Analyst

Planetary Image Research Laboratory (PIRL)

HiRISE Operations Center (HiROC)

Lunar and Planetary Lab (LPL)

Department of Planetary Sciences

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

 

Software development

Lead Ground Data System software developer for the NASA High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment ( HiRISE), an instrument on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO) spacecraft, working with a core group of staff and student programmers in coordination with the HiROC operations team. Participated in overall GDS data flow and operations design. Initiated the design and implementation of the central HiRISE database (MySQL based) until a database administrator could be hired. Responsible for the design and implementation of the software organization, management and build framework. Responsible for the design and implementation of the Java Conductor pipeline processing software used for automated, distributed database-driven high-throughput procedure management as the basis for HiRISE observation data products production operations. Designed and implemented several HiRISE software subsystems including FEIWatchdog: hands-off, 24x7 remote detection and download of new observation data files; Observation: C++ classes and applications for access to and management of HiRISE observation data including the generation of data products for delivery to the Planetary Data System (PDS); PDS_JP2: C++ classes and applications for conversion of image files in standard PDS format to the new PDS/JP2 format (participated in it's specification) using JPEG2000 encoding to reduce the storage requirements of HiRISE images (up to 80,000 by 150,000 16-bit pixels in three bands) delivered as final data products to PDS and the public. Negotiated the acquisition, installation and use of ISO standard JPIP (JPEG2000 Internet Protocol) server technology at HiROC for efficient internet distribution of HiRISE image data products. Ongoing responsibility for the development and maintenance of the PIRL Java Packages, PIRL++ classes and other software.

 

 

 

2/97 - 3/98

Principal Applications Systems Analyst

Terrestrial Biophysics and Remote Sensing (TBRS) Group

Department of Soils, Water and Environmental Science

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

 

Facility management

Responsible for the design and implementation of a strategic development plan for a NASA Science Computing Facility (SCF) requiring high level, integrated computing services to meet the intensive resource and functionality demands of the EOS-MODIS (Earth Observing System - Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Project as part of the Mission to Planet Earth. The TBRS SCF was expected to provide high levels of performance and capacity to process large data sets and maintain a constant data flow, support a software development environment for the evaluation of new algorithms and applications, and accommodate scientific visualization tools that research teams apply to the exploratory analysis of the data products. Implementation duties extended from needs assessment, budget management, and product evaluation through vendor negotiations, purchasing process and equipment installation to hardware and software maintenance, user training and support and the particulars of systems administration.

 

Software development

Algorithm software implementation of certain MODLAND (MODIS Land Group) processing software including production software for the generation of vegetation indexes from global land surface imagery data sets. Involvement with the science teams in researching new algorithms and interactive analysis methods and the implications for further application areas.

 

Systems

Silicon Graphics (MIPS/Irix) multiprocessor servers (Origin2000, Challenge-L) and workstations (Personal Iris through Power Indigo2), PC's (Intel x86/Microsoft Windows 95) and Apple Macintoshes (PowerPC). Switched ethernet (10BaseT, 100BaseTX) network. Shared storage devices (multi-volume/multi-controller striped disks; EOD jukebox, CD, CD-R optical; 8mm and QIC tape). Various printers and modems.

 

 

 

9/89 - 1/97

Senior Applications Systems Analyst

Planetary Image Research Laboratory (PIRL)

Lunar and Planetary Lab (LPL)

Department of Planetary Sciences

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

 

Systems management

Responsible for managing the operations and growth of the PIRL computer facility used by a world-wide community of scientists, educators, and students involved in theoretical and applied research in Planetary Sciences and related fields that utilize image processing and remote sensing computer capabilities for multispectral data analysis. Administered, directly and via supervised staff, systems upgrades and third-party device driver installations, backup and other routine systems maintenance procedures as well as recovery from system failures, user accounts and disk space allocations, local network structure and general trouble-shooting. Responsible for new equipment and software evaluation, specification (including vendor negotiations and RFQ procedures) and acquisition. Provided systems administration support to affiliated LPL clients. Provided consulting and general client support. Assisted the Director in proposal preparation.

 

Software development

Worked with researchers and staff in defining a strategic growth path for the development of new, and the support of existing, software packages to meet the research needs of the Lab. Provided system design and implementation technique specifications as project leader, managing task allocation and participating in their execution to ensure successful completion. Integrated user-supplied applications into existing software environments based on the Unix operating system. Managed the production of software modules (programs and libraries) providing capabilities in the areas of network-distributed interprocess communications, memory-mapped image data file access, generalized look-up table (LUT) operations, image geometry transformations, image display device access, filmwriter device control, system administration utilities and user interfaces (CLUI and GUI using GKS, SunView and X-Windows methodologies). Wrote user and programmer documentation and provided user training. Supported and enhanced the in-house Generalized Array Processing (GARP) software subsystem and administered other research software packages (e.g. IDL, MatLab, IRAF, Khoros, JPL-VICAR and USGS-ISIS).

 

Systems

Sun Microsystems (SPARC/Solaris, SunOS) servers (Enterprise 3000, 4/490) and workstations (3-4/110 through multiprocessor, dual-head SPARCstation20), PCs (Intel x86/Microsoft Windows 3.1) and Apple/Power Computing Macintoshes (PowerPC, 68k). Switched ethernet (10BaseT, 100BaseTX) network. NFS integrated disk pool and a variety of other storage devices (CD, CD-R, EOD optical; 4mm, 8mm, 1/2" and QIC tapes). Specialized imaging devices (IIS-IVAS intelligent displays, Agfa/Matrix QCR-Z digital filmwriter on GPIB). Shared (lp/lpr) printers (network laserjet, SCSI dye sublimation, parallel ink jet, serial dot matrix). Modems for dial-in, SLIP and PPP service.

 

 

 

6/81 - 5/92

Planning and Systems Coordinator/Co-Owner

idæim Studio

The Graphic Studios Company

Tucson, Arizona

 

Business

co-owner/manager

Co-founded and operated an Arizona Corporation specializing in computer-based spatial data analysis for land use suitability planning and related applications. Jointly held responsibility for general company management functions, business operations, new products and services development and the initiation and organization of new business units. Participated in the activities of professional societies: American Planning Association, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM/SIGGraph), Digital Equipment Corporation Users Society (Local Users Group newsletter producer and software librarian).

 

Land use planning projects

Provided scientific and technical support for project definition and execution in the form of client consultation, proposal preparation, and analysis procedure specifications, database design and assembly, generation and evaluation of study results and the production of reports and graphics. Participated in community organizing of neighborhood group, non-profit agency, university and government activities by providing pro bono and contracted consulting and services on comprehensive metropolitan land use planning issues. Managed tasks and worked with employees to assure project completion within time and budget constraints. (Project list available on request.)

 

Facility development

Responsible for the evaluation, acquisition, installation and integration and maintenance of a specialized computing system for in-house software development, the production of geographic databases and interactive data analysis consulting with clients. Designed and implemented low-level, event-driven (asynchronous) device interfaces and software function libraries as needed to support an integrated system of applications programs that implemented a proprietary spatial data analysis software environment specializing in interactive composite suitability analysis, GIS procedures, image processing techniques, digital video processing and image output generation. Designed and implemented custom software to meet specified industrial requirements for operation on the clients' equipment. Provided business office computing capabilities with connections to the research system.

 

Systems

Digital Equipment Corporation (PDP-11/RSX-11M) minicomputer with hard disks (SMD winchester and removable pack) and 1/2" tape subsystems, graphic input devices (36x48" digitizer table, and three-axis & switches joy-stick), and I/O peripherals (ANSI X-3.64 terminals and dot-matrix graphics printer) plus real-time image processing subsystem (Gould/DeAnza IP-8500). Apple Macintosh with printer and modem.

 

Research

The idæim facility continues to function as a personal research lab with upgraded faclilities to support the continuing development of open source software - such as the C++ Parameter Value Language (PVL) classes - and experimental applications.

 

 

 

Fall 1988, Fall 1989

Adjunct Lecturer - Computer Cartography

Department of Geography and Regional Development

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

 

Teaching

Advanced techniques course - "Computer Cartography: Concepts for the digital processing of spatial data" (481/581) - for upper level undergraduates and graduate students that provided a foundation for the application of computer technologies to cartographic concepts and spatial data analysis methods with special emphasis on evolving image processing and geographic information systems. Students to visit several research laboratories for demonstrations of different types of facilities employing the capabilities being studied in various application areas.

 

 

 

11/85 - 9/86

Systems Analyst/Marketing Engineer

DSP Systems Division

Burr-Brown Research Corporation

Tucson, Arizona

 

Applications support

Responsible for providing technical support for digital signal processing (DSP) and analog I/O VMEbus board-level products used in high-performance, industrial computer systems. Primary applications/customer support liaison between all North American operations and the Scottish design and manufacturing facility. Supported customers and field sales force in the areas of product functional specifications, system integration methods, and trouble-shooting analysis and solutions through seminar presentations, on-site customer visits throughout the United States and Canada and on-call technical backup. Coordinated and implemented promotional programs including advertising campaigns, literature productions and major technical trade show exhibits in east and west coast cities. Researched and analyzed market factors to forecast sales and identify new product design criteria and application areas. Initiated and facilitated business negotiations with related companies in the computer industry.

 

 

 

8/84 - 8/85

Software Engineer

Microsystems Division

Motorola, Inc.

Tempe, Arizona

 

Software development

Worked with a project team - Advanced Products Group - on the development of new computer graphics, QIC tape, SCSI disk, and other subsystems for the company's VMEbus board-level products. Designed, implemented and documented (as formal Engineering Specifications) real-time, high speed software (communications interfaces, device state-transition control systems and diagnostics) for use on intelligent peripheral controllers in new general purpose computer systems. Implemented high-level software modules to be used with virtual device interfaces and the Graphical Kernel System. Utilized networked workstations and servers for Unix development environments, and specialized stand-alone and board-level systems for real-time embedded systems.

 

Systems

Motorola Microsystems VME/10 (68000 family) workstations and DEC VAX central servers running AT&T SYS/V Unix, Motorola (VersaDOS/68000) industrial control systems and MVME-110 single board computers.

 

Subsequently provided contract services (software specifications) to the Government Electronics Group through idæim.

 

 

 

5/84 - 8/84

Consultant/Systems Manager

Office of Arid Lands Studies

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

 

Systems management

Managed a new multi-user research computing system (DEC PDP-11) used primarily by the Remote Sensing Laboratory. System installation, maintenance and user assistance and training were provided during the initial start-up transition period until the organization was able to hire a permanent staff person to take responsibility for system administration activities. Designed and implemented custom software for large volume bibliographic database conversion (AGRICOLA) in support of the department's extensive specialized library operations.

 

Subsequently provided contract services (image analysis) through idæim.

 

 

 

12/80 - 6/81

Computer Programmer

Department of Chemistry

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Software development

Carried out a project for the design of scientific software, including algorithm specification and implementation techniques, to meet research needs for image matching capabilities. Research of previous work concerning digital image comparison algorithms was used as the basis for integrating new image processing software into an existing system of programs utilized in high resolution electron microscopy studies of crystal structures. Implemented routines on a general purpose minicomputer (Data General) with special purpose imaging hardware (Lexidata 3400).

 

 

 

10/80 - 5/81

Consultant

Museum of Northern Arizona

Flagstaff, Arizona

 

Archaeological analysis

Provided services in spatial data analysis by applying the Map Analysis and Processing System to the investigation of extensive petroglyph sites of boulders covering hillsides in a major flood control management area under development by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

 

 

 

6/80 - 12/80

Consultant

Office of Cultural Resource Management

Department of Anthropology

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Archaeological analysis

Ported the proprietary Map Analysis and Processing System (MAPS) software for spatial data analysis from a large main-frame, distributed processing environment to a stand-alone minicomputer with graphics oriented hardware so as to increase the system's overall utility and availability. Added new modules to the MAPS software to implement resource utilization modeling. Provided personnel training for database building. Advised in data analysis and interpretation of the results. Contributed to the final research report. Produced printed color posters summarizing the study results for presentation at archaeological conferences and distribution to interested researchers.

 

Systems

Computing center main-frame (Univac 1100), minicomputer (Tektronix 4081) vector graphics workstation.

 

 

 

1/79 - 6/80

Section Manager

Lofgreen Printing

Mesa, Arizona

 

Phototypesetting

Managed and operated a new computer phototypesetting (CompuGraphic) service for a mid-sized printing business. Assisted the owner with customer service, job costing, and production management including the design and implementation of a more efficient job scheduling and tracking system. Also learned to operate small (AB Dick) to medium size (Heidelberg) offset and letterpress printing presses and associated photographic, plate making and cutting and binding equipment.

 

Graphic design and production

In association with one of the printers at Lofgreen's, designed, edited and produced brochures, newsletters and magazines for the Gentle Strength Food Co-op and related cooperative associations as a gratis community service.

 

 

 

1/76 - 8/77

Chief of Staff

Delaware Community Land Trust

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Program development

Responsible for setting up and managing a small office for a non-profit (501(c)3) community group of regional scope, including general operations and supervision of other employees and volunteers. Participated in the design and implementation of new programs for land acquisition and use planning. Sought out and helped pursue fund-raising opportunities including proposal preparation. Held responsibility for coordinating financial matters. Organized and participated in public relations activities and brochure design and production. Visited all significant similar organizations in New England.

 

 

 

9/75 - 10/76

Planning Intern

Area Planning Division

Philadelphia City Planning Commission

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Community planning assistance

Worked part-time doing environmental field surveys, production of cartographic folios, historic research and automobile traffic data analysis for community-wide parks and recreation and open space projects, historic preservation efforts and traffic routing problems. Achieved the top position in the City's test of potential new Planning Commission employees.

 

 

 

8/74 - 1/75

Teaching Assistant

College of Engineering

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Computer programming education

Provided one-on-one consultative/tutorial instruction to entry level students in FORTRAN programming courses.

 

 

 

9/72 - 3/74

Field Ecologist

Rio Palenque Inc.

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Environmental impact assessment studies

Worked as a member of project teams doing ecological field surveys to meet State of Florida permitting requirements for land development projects in southeastern Florida and the Keys. Collected soils and water data and participated in vegetation and wildlife (birds, large mammals) surveys in areas of Everglade sloughs, hardwood hammocks, mangrove swamps and inter-tidal (inland waterways and tidal creeks) and near shore waters (subsurface). Carried out laboratory analysis of samples for chemical and physical composition. Managed a long-term program of data collection, monitoring and analysis for the assessment of bio-production and the evaluation of construction impacts in mangrove estuaries (north Key Largo, Florida). Designed and implemented new and improved field research equipment and methods for harsh environments, including light penetration measurements of mangrove canopies.

 

 

 

9/71 - 9/72

Interviewer

County Manager's Office

Metropolitan Dade County

Miami, Florida

 

Social programs effectiveness research

Collected data from the records of the County's drug rehabilitation programs and police files for computer analysis. Conducted in-depth home and jail interviews with drug program participants, past clients, staff and administrators and concerned citizens. Performed quantitative and qualitative analysis resulting in the production of summary reports with policy recommendations.

 

 

United Way of Southern Florida

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Social programs effectiveness research

Collected questionnaire information from indigent and disabled people receiving home meal deliveries by a program providing services in the metropolitan Miami area and the extremely poor shantytown near Homestead, Florida.

 

 

 

9/66 - 8/71

Laboratory Research Assistant

Department of Physics

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Student research assistant

Worked under the direction of the manager of the High Energy Physics Research Labs doing equipment assembly, operation and data analysis in conjunction with experiments involving cesium plasma characteristics and studies of nuclear fusion in magnetically contained colliding plasmas.

 

 

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

Miami, Florida

 

Student research assistant

Assisted in carrying our single-cell functional studies - using domestic cats, rabbits and iguanas - concerning the neurological mechanisms of vision.

 


 

Education

 

 

 

 

Graduate Education

 

1/80 - 12/80

College of Liberal Arts

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Land use practicum

Advanced seminar studies in the theoretical and practical aspects of land use planning law, computer graphic techniques and spatial analysis.

 

8/77 - 12/78

College of Liberal Arts

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Environmental Geography

A practical program in the Department of Geography (under the direction of John Lounsbury and Frank Aldrich) in computer cartography. And individual effort to use developing computer technology in addressing pragmatic problems resulted in the design and implementation of a totally new distributed processing software system for database generation and interactive analysis of spatially mapped information (MAPS: Map Analysis and Processing System); originally applied to community planning and land use suitability contexts.

 

9/75 - 5/77

College of Fine Arts

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

Regional Planning

A comprehensive program in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (under the direction of Ian McHarg and Narendra Juneja) of professional training based on community oriented studio projects emphasizing the integrated application of physical/environment, social/cultural and economic/institutional factors by the methods of applied human ecology and composite suitability-constraint analysis for the production of procedural legislation and the development of performance guidelines employed by land use planning agencies.

 

6/74 - 7/75

College of Engineering

Arizona State University

Tempe, Arizona

 

Ecology,

Environmental Engineering

 and Public Administration

An engineering centered program focusing on ecological systems as the context for the practical skills of community planning and development, including the development of computer programs to assist in the modeling and design of hydrologic systems.

 

9/73 - 1/74

College of Arts and Sciences

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Problems of Metropolitan Government

A special independent study course to analyze the newly implemented State of Florida's regional planning legislation (under a Fish and Game protection provision) and evaluate its impact on the administration of metropolitan governments.

 

9/70 - 8/71

Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Psychology,

Sensory Processes

and Unified Medical Science

Interdisciplinary programs of experimental psychology, neurophysiology and biomedical engineering focused on achieving an integrated understanding of human functioning. Hospital and laboratory experience combined with classroom and research studies covering all anatomical and mental systems in detail.

 

 

 

 

Undergraduate Education

 

9/66 - 8/70

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Bachelor Of Science

Major: Physics (Honors Program) and Mathematics

Minor: Sociology and Human Relations

 

 

 

 

Conferences and Workshops

 

9/07

Seminar Series

Planetary Sciences Institute

Tucson, Arizona

 

Presenter

On-going seminar series on topics of interest in the field of Planetary Sciences. Delivered a talk titled "Designing and Implementing Processing Pipelines with Conductor: The HiROC Experience" describing the results of using the Conductor software for HiRISE data product generation at the HiRISE Operations Center with an emphasis on the applicability of the system to other data processing production operations.

 

5/07

10th Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Conference (LPLC)

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Tucson, Arizona

 

Presenter

A yearly conference to review the work being done at the Lunar and Planetary Lab.  For the first time a day-long Technical Session was offered to present the results of technical development efforts in support of the scientific research. Delivered three presentations: "Feeding the Goose to Get Golden Eggs: Institutional Support and Legal Obstacles to Open Source Software", "Designing and Implementing Processing Pipelines with Conductor: The HiROC Experience" and "JPEG2000: Pros and Cons".

 

11/06

5th Joint Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Working Group

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

College Park, Maryland

 

Invited Presentation

This conference coordinates the activities of its four Working Groups - Metrics Planning and Reporting, Technology Infusion, Software Reuse and Standards Processes - by reviewing on-going activities, discussing issues and considering plans and potential solutions to meet the needs of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems. Delivered a talk titled "Feeding the Goose to Get Golden Eggs: Institutional Support and Legal Obstacles to Open Source Software" on the bottom-up perspective for software reuse using open source software development as a model.

 

2/06

37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)

Lunar and Planetary Institute

League City, Texas

 

Poster Presentation

"Conductor: Managing Processing Pipelines" with accompanying abstract paper describing the software system.

 

                           7/01 - 1/06

Software Technology Discussion Group

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Tucson, Arizona

 

 

An outgrowth of the Programming in C++ discussion group, this group met weekly to discuss areas of software technology relevant to the participants' work. Special focus topics, tutorials and presentations were offered periodically including "Building an Executable: compile, link and make", "Extensible Markup Language (XML)", "Source Code Management: SCCS and CVS", "Code Optimization and Parallel Programming, "XHTML and CSS for Web Development", "Java Beans" and "GUI Toolkits" amongst many other interesting and pragmatically useful topics.

 

3/00 - 8/01

Programming in C++

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Tucson, Arizona

 

Discussion Group Facilitator

For those interested in moving from the use of the C language to the C++ language in their work, or for those new to programming who wished to start right off with object-oriented software development, this group providing boot-strapping tutorials in C++ syntax, object-oriented concepts and pragmatic experience with application issues facing the participants. Participants acquired skills using the language and applying the paradigms for the implementation of solutions to their on-going work.

 

2/00 - 3/00

Programming in C

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Tucson, Arizona

 

Teacher

A series of six 1-2 hour classes on the basics of the C language for students and technical staff seeking a quick-start pragmatic introduction to the programming language syntax and its use in implementing applications.

 

9/99

Distributed Computing Workshop

National Laboratory for Applied Network Research

Tucson, Arizona

 

 

A workshop on distributed computing to address the research needs of researchers in all disciplines who depend on high-performance networks such as vBNS/Abilene or Internet2 including the developmental directions of the research networks and how to tune applications and systems to make efficient use of supercomputing sites. Extensive labs and consulting on application needs was provided.

 

10/96

AAS/DPS

28th Annual Meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences

American Astronomical Society

Tucson, Arizona

 

Local Organizing Committee

Responsible for providing computer services in coordination with NASA Science Internet of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

10/95

ADASS V

Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems

Tucson, Arizona

 

 

An international conference for scientists and programmers concerned with algorithms, software frameworks and systems used for production and analysis of astronomical data.

 

6/93 - 7/93

Los Alamos Computational Science Workshop

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos, New Mexico

 

 

One week of overview presentations by leading experts in the field of high performance, parallel processing computing systems and corresponding scientific algorithms and applications. Additional two weeks of hands-on tutorials in advanced programming techniques for massively parallel (Thinking Machines CM-5) and vector optimized (Cray Y-MP) high-end computing systems.

 

7/85

12th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics (SIGGraph)

Association for Computing Machinery

San Francisco, California

 

Speaker

Delivered the overview presentation "The Nature of a Digital Image" to the Introduction to Image Processing session.

 

6/74 - 7/74

Arcosanti

Cosanti Foundation

Cordes Junction, Arizona

 

 

Six week on-site production workshop in the development of an experimental new community under the direction of Paolo Soleri based on his conceptual and structural design principles of "arcology". In addition to training and experience in large scale concrete construction using modular casting techniques, organic gardening in desert conditions and food commissary operation a complete vegetation survey of the site's mesas and their surrounding lowlands along the Agua Fria River was carried out as an individual initiative.