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Joseph Jones

Antarctica Launch Site-Tractor
Antarctica Launch Site

Joseph Jones, UT Tyler 2005 electrical engineering graduate, said his job as a payload engineer for CSBF can be summed up in one phrase, “no surprises.” “We make sure there are no surprises,” he said. “Our job is to integrate … to get everything talking right between us and the science groups. We make sure everything that is supposed to be happening is happening.”

Jones said engineers have the opportunity to be a part of different types of research and studies. All of the UT Tyler graduates at CSBF are part of creating solutions for the future through scientific research.

Scientific research done with the help of balloons include:

Cosmic ray studies
Gamma ray and X-ray astronomy
Optical and ultra-violet astronomy
Infrared astronomy
Atmospheric sciences
Magnetospherics
Micrometeorite particles

Graduated from UT Tyler: May 2005
Degree: Electrical Engineering
Joined CSBF team: July 2005

One of the recent launches that Jones and others worked on was called ANITA (Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna). This mission’s goal was to “constrain the origin of the highest energy particles in the universe.” The project was designed to test the fundamental laws of high-energy physics and astrophysics by observing neutrinos or high-energy particles in the atmosphere.

Jones, who joined the CBSF team in 2005 just a couple months after graduating, said he was pleased to find a job like he did so quickly. He saw the posting while attending classes and knew he had the skills for it.

“You have a closer student-teacher relationship (at UT Tyler),” he said. “At another university, you might get shuffled off to a teacher’s assistant if you don’t understand something. But (at UT Tyler), they take the time to explain.”

Through Jones, Perez, Field and other graduates at CSBF, UT Tyler is empowering the scientific community to explore solutions for mankind. There is no limit to the possibilities . . . not even the sky.