Name: Heidi Becker

Position: Senior Engineer, Radiation Effects Group (5144).

Background: Heidi joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2001 and is a staff engineer for the Radiation Effects Group of the Electronic Parts Engineering Office. Research and project work at JPL has included space radiation effects on multiple types of optoelectronic devices, and investigation into latent damage effects in microelectronics caused by single-event latchup.

She has been JPL’s Sensor Technology Radiation Task Manager for the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP) since 2003. Her work has resulted in several Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) presentations and peer reviewed publications in the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Optical Engineering, and Proceedings of SPIE. Her paper, “The Influence of Structural Characteristics on the Response of Silicon Avalanche Photodiodes to Proton Irradiation,” (IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 1974-1981, Dec. 2003) was nominated for the Outstanding Conference Paper of NSREC 2003. She recently chaired the NSREC 2005 Photonics Session in Seattle, WA, and is a regular reviewer for the IEEE Trans. on Nucl. Sci.

Recent project work: Mission Assurance Sensor Lead for the Juno Mission star tracker and payload sensors, Sensor and ADC Radiation Lead for the Rad Hard Technology Development effort of the Prometheus Project, and focal plane array radiation consultation for the USAF Space and Missile System Center’s Independent (Star Tracker) Readiness Review Team, and the DAWN Framing Camera.

Heidi received a JPL Level B Bonus Award and a JPL Team Bonus Award for her work as the radiation effects expert for Juno’s Stellar Reference Unit during the 2005 proposal phase. In 2006, she was given a Spot Award from the Juno Project for her continued work on the SRU. Her work on latent damage effects in 2001 and 2002 resulted in a “rule of thumb” threshold current density for SEL-induced latent damage in microelectronics metallization, and was instrumental in establishing latchup circumvention criteria for the Microwave Limb Sounder project; she received a JPL Spot Award for her contribution to MLS.

Heidi received her B.S. in physics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2001, and has completed graduate work in optical sciences at the University of Arizona’s Optical Sciences Center. She also holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from New York University.