Name: Ron Ruiz

Biography: Has over 20 years experience in the field of Electron Microscopy and Element analysis, using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and other forms imaging, including Infrared. He joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1982 as an electronic technician in the Electronic Parts Engineering Office while pursuing an A.S. degree at Glendale Community College. His contributions have included a patent in Fuel Cell materials technology, two NASA tech brief articles -- one on “Viewing Integrated-Circuit Interconnections by SEM” and another on “Sputter Deposition of Catalysts for Fuel-Cell Electrodes”. He has also co-authored of over fifteen technical papers in Barrier Materials for semiconductor applications, in support of Dr. Marc Nicolet’s Electrical Engineering research group at Caltech. Ron has also been a part of several tiger teams investigating anomalies with the Galileo Data Tape Recorder, Mars Global Surveyor Reaction Wheel-Squeal, and most recently, hot spot concerns with the Galex APE Hardware. Ron is a Certified Level II Infrared Thermographer, and a member of both the Southern California Society for Microscopy & Microanalysis, and Electronic Device Failure Analysis (EDFAS) Society.