Joe Chavez ’05 (M.S. computer science) likes to say that if he does his job properly, nothing interesting happens. Chavez works at Caltech’s Spitzer Science Center, where he is part of the team responsible for the development of software for the uplink and archive subsystems for the Spitzer Space Telescope.
He says that if all goes well with his work translating instructions from astronomers to the telescope via software developed by the team, then the telescope will perform exactly as the scientists want it to act. Anything interesting is likely to result from a computer command that was not in the original plan, he says.
“There’s a real element of cooperation in what we do here,” Chavez says. “It’s always nice to do it and know it works.”
The Spitzer Space Telescope (www.spitzer.caltech.edu) is a space-based infrared telescope that has been in operation for more than three years. During that time it has chronicled black holes, baby stars, space explosions and other galactic phenomena.
Chavez, who did his undergraduate work at UC Riverside, first worked for FileNet when he graduated from college. He since has worked for Internet and consulting companies and has operated his own consulting firm since 1998. Prior to learning about the Caltech opportunity eight years ago, he never considered work in an aerospace environment.
“When I got the call, I really thought a space telescope project would be interesting to work on,” he recalls. And, he says, in the last eight years the work has not disappointed him.
The spacecraft with its telescope and instruments operates on a nine-month cycle, Chavez says. During each cycle, about 800 requests from scientists who wish to use the telescope are received; only 300 are honored.
Chavez worked full time while going to CSUF full time to earn his graduate degree. “I wanted to further my computer science education by becoming more familiar with the current areas of research,” he says. “It was useful to see new approaches to software design and engineering.”
Married to Rachael Hand ’93, ’02 (B.A. theatre arts, B.M. vocal music performance), Chavez has two children and lives in San Dimas. 
