I am pleased to be considered as a candidate for the position of Institutional Director for UNAVCO. As an engineer, I first became aware of UNAVCO by downloading its data products in the 1990's. This is a great service that is provided by UNAVCO to engineers and scientists in the field. Since then, I have become more aware of the growth of UNAVCO's activities in scientific research, equipment purchases, and educational and outreach roles. UNAVCO's activities have broadened in scope over the years and I would like to see this trend continue so that it has the greatest impact that is achievable.

My background is pretty different from most of the existing members of UNAVCO, since my research is in the area of real-time applications of GPS, especially for Earth orbiting satellites. For example, I designed the algorithms and wrote much of the software that flies in the GPS receiver on the International Space Station. I would describe myself as a GPS technologist and sensor designer. Therefore, I would expect to bring a different perspective to the Board of Directors, representing the interests of a new class of users and applications.

While working at NASA, I had the opportunity to serve on an FAA-led Government committee to study and make recommendations on the modernized GPS signal and Block III satellites. Our committee generated a Block III Capstone Requirements document that resulted in system requirements for GPS modernization. Thus, I have some familiarity with the GPS signal design, spectrum and modernization issues that I could bring to the Board.

Although my research activities have been mainly in the interests of spacecraft dynamics and control, I have a profound respect for solid Earth physics and the great progress that has been enabled with the use of GPS receiver networks. I believe that in the not-too-distant future, GPS networks will be able to monitor seismic activity to issue predictions and warnings for severe earthquakes and impending volcanic eruptions. Not only will our understanding of these processes increase, but this will save many lives from death in natural disasters. UNAVCO has an important role to play in bringing this vision to reality, and I look forward to assisting the organization in any way that I can.

Glenn Lightsey Biography

Dr. E. Glenn Lightsey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a member of the Center for Space Research (CSR). Dr. Lightsey specializes in the dynamics and control of vehicles using avionics sensors such as the Global Positioning System for navigation and attitude determination. Prior to joining the College of Engineering in 1999, Dr. Lightsey worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for 13 years. He was the Lead Engineer for the Attitude Control System on the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX), a successful Earth physics satellite that was launched in 1993. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1997 on the thesis topic "Development and Flight Demonstration of a GPS Receiver for Space." He has also authored over 20 technical publications on the dynamics and control of vehicles using sensors such as GPS. Dr. Lightsey has been recognized nationally for his research with awards such as the AIAA Young Engineer of the Year, the NASA Center of Excellence Individual Award, and the NASA Manned Flight Awareness Award. He has served on the Institute of Navigation's National Council (1998-2000), the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technical Committee (2000-2002), and the International Forum on Automatic Controls Aerospace Technical Committee (2001-2002). Dr. Lightsey received the 2000 Halliburton Young Faculty Excellence Award, the 2003 Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department Teaching Award, and the 2003 College of Engineering Outstanding Teaching by an Assistant Professor Award.

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