Guest Speaker Joseph Miller, Software Deputy Manager, Smithsonian Institution
The West Virginia Coding Club was recently fortunate to have such a distinguished guest speaker, who has been directly involved in software development with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (https://chandra.harvard.edu/ and https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/facilities-technology/telescopes-instruments/chandra) and other Astronomy projects connected with the Smithsonian Institution.
Joe has spent almost 25 years working for the Smithsonian Institution with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), starting as a Software Developer and progressing to a Senior Software Engineer to Lead Software Engineer then to Software Deputy Manager. He leads a team of software developers working to design, develop and implement astronomical software in support of the Chandra mission and other Astronomy projects. The team works to develop and maintain Chandra data pipelines and tools associated with Chandra’s data analysis system.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), (https://www.si.edu/about/astrophysical-observatory) founded in 1890, is a research center of the Smithsonian Institution with the mission to advance our knowledge and understanding of the universe through research and education in astronomy and astrophysics. Affiliated with the Harvard College Observatory, SAO created the world’s first satellite-tracking network, establishing the organization as a pioneer in space science research. In 1973, the Smithsonian and Harvard created the joint Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Key areas of research include exoplanets, the sun and solar weather, asteroids and comets, and "The Extreme Universe" that includes the study of black holes, pulsars, supernovae, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and magnetars.
Joe had his first experience with computers and video games in middle school. He learned Basic and Pascal developing simple to more sophisticated programs eventually incorporating physics and related mathematics into his programs. He wanted to be a Veterinarian until he took a biology class. Then his focus changed.
He went on to college at Clarkson University to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. After that he got married, and started his family.
After some time with the Smithsonian Institution, he continued his education and earned a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Joe was asked about items that are good qualities for potential new employees. He shared the following:
Enthusiastic - wants to learn and be involved
Background Talent - projects, teamwork, able to pair program
Technical Experience - understands programming language(s) and various concepts
Adaptable - things change - adapt to solve problems
Joe’s advice for the students:
Be prepared for the boom in Artificial Intelligence, there will be great need in that area.
Find something you like and try difference things.
Learn different languages and constructs.
President of the West Virginia Coding Club, Dan McElroy said, “We are grateful for Joe’s time and insights for our West Virginia Coding Club students. His talk helped us to understand the incredible impact Joe and his team’s work have on furthering knowledge about our Universe through programing and software. Thank you Joe!”
Keep Coding!