Database Administrator, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Different than most, Geoffrey dropped out of public high school and decided to instead take the California High School Proficiency Exam. The exam certificate is equivalent to a high school diploma. He attended college as a welding student, eventually getting various certifications in welding. After a few years of working in construction, fire and a few other industries, Geoffrey returned to college to pursue an engineering degree.
Geoff works as a database administrator, developing and maintaining databases to hold the abudance of information sent back to Earth by the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
What advice can you offer to young scientists or engineers?
Do what you really love. I think that passion is critically important. Engineering and science are very hard. So hard that you will often times be discouraged and faced with the decision to take an easier career. But if you truely love what you are working toward, you will continue to strive until you get there, even when faced with the hardest challenges. I know that if I didn't love engineering so much, I would have dropped out of college and stuck to welding.
What are your dreams for the future of exploration?
I eventually would like to design and help build structures for space and other planets. I would like to build more platforms like the International Space Station, which would lead to human exploration of other planets.
What is unique about your job?
I think the most unique thing about my job is that it exposes me to every aspect of this project. While my job isn't as exciting or as technical as others, I have complete access to pictures, presentations, and drawings. I often times will read through them to try and understand more about the mission. So instead of focusing on one little part of the mission, I feel I see all of it.
What's the most extraordinary experience you've had so far on this mission?
Sometimes while testing the spacecraft we need to run it for hours upon hours. This means that it has to be left on over night. I got the opportunity to babysit the spacecraft from 9:30 PM to 6:30 AM a few nights. It was quite and solitary, but it was incredibly exciting for a non-technical person like me to actually be taking measurments from the spacecraft.
When you were in elementary school, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A fireman first, an engineer second. Though at the time I didn't even know what an engineer was. I just wanted to build bridges and buildings.
When did you decide you wanted to be in the space industry and how did you go for it?
I decided on building spacecraft when I was 15. I realized that many of the "great" bridges and buildings were already built. And that there would be a very small group of people who got the awesome jobs designing here on Earth. So I looked toward building structures in space.
Do you have any hobbies?
Surfing, snowboarding and martial arts are my three hobbies. I've been doing martial arts the longest. Starting when I was 12, I began learning Aikido from a private instructor. Snowboarding and surfing began around 1999 and I love them both. They excite and relax me at the same time. In the winter I can often be found at Mammoth Mountain on weekends and Mountain High on weeknights. During the summer, Saturday and Sunday mornings are spent surfing at either Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach or Trestles in San Clemente.
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