Engineer Software

Christopher Allen**** Russell St, Berkeley, CA ***02

510-***-****

******@*****.************ Experience11 years on NASA space telescope missions 15+ years software development on linux/unix environments, extensive Windows and Mac experienceProgramming Languages: Java (including Hibernate-based ORM), C++/C, Perl, python, shell scripting, MATLAB, IDL, PDL, SQL, FORTRANTools/Libraries: JUnit, svn (including whole-repository backup/archive/restore), cvs, awk, HTML, openGLCloud computing: Google App Engine (python), HadoopAstronomical Processing Suites: FTOOLS, FUNTOOLS, IRAF, AIPSWork HistoryNASA Ames Research Center / Orbital Sciences CorporationSenior Principal Software Engineer January 2005 to present, Moffett Field, CAWon "NASA Software of the Year" award for work on the Kepler SOC pipeline in 2010.

Created and maintained a suite of tools to extract raw Kepler data from custom datastore for analysis.Developed analysis algorithms to help detect habitable planets.Designed and implemented libraries to manage, update, and persist photometer calibration data.Maintained and substantially optimized mission-critical and high-profile sky-to-pixel transformation software.Wrote pipeline modules to calculate and report metrics to characterize analysis efficiency.Extended and modified official Kepler data simulator (MATLAB).Wrote pipeline modules, analysis tools (MATLAB, Java, C Participated in front-to-back software life cycle.Upgraded cluster-deploy scripts to increase reliability and improve error reporting.Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryComputer Scientist (National Ignition Facility)

August 2004 to January 2005, Livermore, CAWrote and implemented software requirements and test plans.Operated test instruments for NIF laser test firings.Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryData Specialist July 2002 to July 2004, Cambridge, MAWrote calibration software (Perl, C++) for Chandra Optics Group.Developed new X-ray optics analysis methods.Created official parameterization of Chandra optics.Wrote binary data filter (C++) for Chandra raytrace simulator.Created pipeline-integrated graphing module (Perl, PDL).Hewlett-Packard CompanySoftware Engineer

July 2000 to June 2002, Cupertino, CADeveloped software test automation (Perl, C, WinRunner).Authored test plans, managed 3-person test team, performed tests.Designed and created OS-installing automation.Cadence Design SystemsSoftware Test Engineer

March 1999 to July 2000, Mountain View, CAHeaded QA group, tested EDA software and web tools.Wrote test automation (Silk Test), test plans, test cases, ASP/SQL analysis scripts.Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryComputer Specialist January 1997 to February 1999, Cambridge, MAAnalyzed calibration data for Chandra Space Telescope.Wrote analysis software (C, Perl, FORTRAN, IDL, awk).Produced datasets of instrumental quantum efficiency using the above software.Undergraduate Research Internships

NSF-funded REU astronomy internships at

(1996),

(1995),

(1995),

(1994-5), and

(1993-4)

EducationAmherst CollegeDouble major in Physics and Astronomy, 1996Harvard Extension SchoolIntroduction to Graphics ProgrammingAlgorithms and Data StructuresObject-Oriented C++ ProgrammingOtherData Munging, Object Oriented ProgrammingPublicationsPapers"Characteristics of Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. II. Analysis of the First Four Months of Data", Borucki, et al, Astrophysical Journal 736 (2011).

Solar-like oscillations as a Probe of the Convective Envelope of a Delta Scuti Star, Nature, in press, manuscript #: 2011-04-04413A "Kepler-10c, a 2.2-Earth radius transiting planet in a multiple system" Astrophysical Journal, April 9, 2011; manuscript #: ApJ83508 Kepler Planet-Detection Mission: Introduction and First Results, Science 19 February 2010:Vol. 327. no. 5968, pp. 977 980Kepler Mission's Focal Plane Characterization Models Implementation, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsKepler Science Operations Center Architecture, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsData Validation in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Frameworks, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsThe Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Framework, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsThe Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Framework Extensions, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsSemi-weekly Monitoring of the Performance and Attitude of Kepler, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsPhotometer Performance Assessment in Kepler Science Data Processing, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsPixel-level Calibration in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline, SPIE 2010 ProceedingsA Framework for Propagation of Uncertainties in the Kepler Data Analysis Pipeline, SPIE 2010 Proceedings"Solar-like oscillations in red giants observed with Kepler: comparison of global oscillation parameters from different methods", Hekker et al, Astronomy and Astrophysics, August 2010"Discovery and Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect of Exoplanet Kepler-8b0", Jenkins, et al, Astrophysical Journal 724 (201*-****-****.

[link]"A Parameterization of the Chandra Point Spread Function, 2003 Chandra

Calibration Workshop, Christopher Allen, Diab Jerius, Terry Gaetz

[link]"A Parameterization of the Chandra Point Spread Function, X-Ray Instruments and

Missions, SPIE Meeting Volume 5165,Christopher L. Allen et al, August 2003.

ISBN# 0-8194-5038-3."Interstellar Matter Near the Pleiades. V. Observations of Na I toward 36

Stars." Richard E. White, et al, 2000, Astrophysical Journal Supplement,

volume 132, pg 253.

[link]"Analysis of the AXAF HRMA+ACIS Effective Area Measurements from the XRCF,"

X-Ray Instruments and Missions, SPIE Meeting Volume 3444, Christopher L. Allen,

et al, Ed. Hoover and Walker, October 1998. ISBN# 0-8194-2899-X."He I 1083 nm Oscillations and Downflows near the North Solar Pole." M. J.

Penn and C. L. Allen, 1997, Solar Physics, volume 174, pps 359-366."An Interstellar Three-Body Encounter at the Pleiades?", Richard E. White and

Christopher L. Allen. An abstract presented at the June 1996 American

Astronomical Society meeting.OtherDesigned and coded an online image storage/display cloud computing app using Google App Engine [link]Near-IR images of Jupiter taken after the SL9 comet collision with Dr Michael

Skrutskie (UMass) appeared in Astronomy Magazine (July 1995), The Great

Comet Crash, Ed. John R. Spencer and Jacqueline Mitton, and the

.

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