Career Employment

What She Does:

Amy Burns leads AFRL’s automatic collision avoidance technology initiative. As program manager and team lead, she develops aircraft systems and advances relevant technologies.

Ted Harmer develops ways to improve Air Force training programs, specifically those related to medical readiness and personnel recovery. His research focuses on continuous learning, performance assessment and validation of training. Since he specializes in applied training research, Harmer often works directly with Airmen in the field.

He explains that his ultimate goal is to enhance the instruction that the Airmen need to successfully complete their missions. Harmer says he aims increase the realism and fidelity of the training.

Barrera manages a research portfolio within the Airmen Systems Directorate that supports AFRL’s Autonomy in Motion effort. She advances the mission by engaging in program management activities. Her job is to lead the development of pilot vehicle interfaces (PVI) between Manned and Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) in anti-access, area denial (A2/AD) environments. Barrera monitors various projects that strive to minimize the manned flight lead’s workload and maximize the overall situational awareness.

Dr. Shanee Pacley is a materials scientist in AFRL’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. She specializes in nanotechnology and focuses on carbon nanomaterials. Pacley got her start at AFRL as an undergraduate co-op student.

She says she enjoyed the hands-on experience in the lab and the day-to-day interaction with other scientists and engineers in the field.

Christensen’s job is to connect AFRL’s basic science research with Air Force operational needs. To accomplish this goal, he identifies opportunities to rapidly develop and transition products that meet near-term Air Force requirements.

In one instance, Christensen spearheaded the development of wearable monitoring devices for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE, specialists. These devices protect students during rigorous training exercises where they function in isolated rugged environments for extended periods.

Dr. Soumya Patnaik leads a multidisciplinary modeling group that develops models for aircraft power and thermal management subsystems. Her team’s research spans from developing new and innovative modeling approaches to transitioning their models to predict the performance of current aircraft systems.

Dr. Patnaik says that the best part of her job is her opportunity to learn something new eve…

What she does

As a research electronics engineer, Nivia Colon-Diaz is currently developing “methodologies to assess mutual coupling effects on the next generation of radio frequency (RF) sensors.”