Greg M. Lucas

Engineer / Scientist

Greg is currently a Principal Ground Software Engineer at Rocket Lab. He is working on the Intermission product area which is used for command and control of spacecraft and analyzing telemetry coming down from satellites. He completed his PhD in aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado working with professor Jeffrey Thayer. Greg's research focuses on the integration of engineering and fundamental science objectives by applying data fusion techniques to satellite and ground based instrumentation to identify new and unique signals that can't be identified from a single dataset alone. He has extensive experience in applying the appropriate technique(s) (machine learning, time series analysis, fundamental statistics) to identify and report quantifiable results. When not at work, Greg spends his time enjoying the numerous outdoor activities Colorado has to offer.

PhD Thesis

The Global Electric Circuit involves the investigation of global variations in atmospheric currents and electric fields created by the distribution of thunderstorms. These electrical pathways can be measured to obtain an understanding of different atmospheric parameters. Greg has created a new Global Electric Circuit model for use within large scale climate models.

Continue Reading
Research Programming

Greg's expertise has evolved around his knowledge and enjoyment with computers, where he has developed several new codes and modified many large codes in several different scientific fields. Most of his development is done in Python and Fortran, focusing on simplicity and fast numerical methods. He is primarily working within the space weather community right now.

Continue Reading
Nuclear Risk Assessment

Upon completion of his Masters Degree, Greg worked at Sandia National Laboratories on a space nuclear risk analysis team. His responsibilities involved numeric modeling of accident scenarios and probabilities to assess the risk of launching nuclear material into space. Greg's primary mission was risk assessment of the Mars Science Laboratory, which carried a radioisotope power system onboard.

Continue Reading