Active Team Members:

Kevin Burgess
Communications Engineer

Kevin Burgess has been working as an Engineer for Mission Support since FMARS 2003, after visiting MDRS to observer Crews 15 & 16, to see what the fuss concerning Mobile Agents was all about. Kevin had participated in similar AI & advance RWI projects during a decade of service in the U.S. Army's Signal Corps. Acting as a tactical Specialist he operated, maintained, troubleshot and upgraded everything in the spectrum from sound to light (ANGRC LHF/HF/VHF/UHF/Tropo & Satellite) while serving tours both overseas and here at home.

After the 1991 Gulf War he retired to the private sector, specializing in Telecommunications & Data for various U.S. government agencies. He has worked all over the planet, from Sri Lanka & India, to Europe SW Asia, and back to Washington D.C.. Segueing from electronics to Information Systems was a simple matter which resulted in his working for places like the Naval Research Labs, and even inside the White House Communications (WACO).

Currently he is acting as a regional Engineer (MSCE & CCIE, w VOIP) for an international telecommunications corporation and bases himself out of Arizona. He covers from there southward to Costa Rica and as far away as Argentina. Supporting the MDRS & FMARS Crews is his way of keeping up with state of the art, and moving into his next career: Aerospace.

His hobbies are linguistics (also certified by the military), Desert artwork & architecture, and finally as an amateur of radio (KC6EHB), acting, & Astronomy (just not all at the same time).

Emily Colvin - Mission Support
Controls and Systems Monitoring Engineer

Emily Colvin became a member of the Engineering Team through her interest in improving the hab and seeing how things work. Through her work in crew 37 (as the crew's independent mission support lead) and crew 47 (as executive officer), she has secured the donation of both a water meter and power meter and hopes to continue to work with MDRS and find new ways to make life on Mars a little bit easier.

She is currently a nuclear and radiological engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology (working on a BS and MS). In the free time that she doesn't really have, she works with the Mars Society @ Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech chapter of the American Nuclear Society, plays clarinet in the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra, and gets involved in any research related to nuclear space propulsion, specifically nuclear electric propulsion.

Gregorio Drayer
Power Engineer

Greg Drayer is a Power Engineer from Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB), with experience in conceptual design of space missions and spacecrafts and solid acid fuel cell design, fabrication and testing from Caltech (SURF 2000-2001), researched and recovered a high power CO2 pulsed laser for scientific applications at the USB's Plasma Physics Lab, chief engineer for the Mars Desert Research Station Crew 28, currently pursues a MSc. in Control Systems Engineering at USB. His main research interest is to design and build intelligent artificial organisms to support life on Earth under sustainable development initiatives and support human efforts to explore beyond Earth's orbit... on to Mars! He is looking forward to become the first Venezuelan astronaut.

Ed Fisher
Drafting, Design, and Carpentry

Ed has been a member of the Mars Society for about 6 years.

Don Foutz
Hanksville Support Base Manager
Local Roads & Trails Expert

Don Foutz: Don has become a member of the MDRS Team through his education and experience as an electronics engineer and his expertise as a local ISP. He has been designated the "local service and support advisor" as well as "the guy who can build or fix anything" and works with each of the crews in the programmatic operations of the hab. His need to serve for the welfare of his community and world began several years ago as he became a local ISP for three areas: Hanksville (when larger, corporate service providers would make no commitment to do so), then Richfield and Wayne County, Utah. In 2000, Don ran for the State Senate in District 28 with the hope of making a difference in the lives of the people who live in rural Utah. Don found that it was going to be very difficult to make important changes as just one person in a group of state level political status. He opted, instead, to try to make a difference on a personal level, community by community, by creating a non profit organization, Rural Employment Opportunities, (REO) to aid in the creation of rural IT jobs. Don spends his busy life in working with the REO Team, the MDRS Team, in owning and operating their business, the Whispering Sands Motel. with his wife, Connie and making time to be a great dad to his children, Brady and Savannah.

Chris Graham
Diesel Operations

Chris Graham, Has been helping the Engineering Team with Diesel operations and advice since summer 2004. He rides Dirt Bikes, is an avid boater and loves playing with his Jeep. He is former Coast Guard Auxiliary PWC operator (Coxswain), was Crew qualified, an Operations Specialist. While there he competed in the International Search and Rescue competition, (where his team took second place in the Search and Rescue Division, missing first by a quarter of a point after a mere 4 hours notice of the competition).

Chris gave that all up to pursue his true love, his new foster daughter, Alicia, whom he has just adopted. He also has two boys, Sean and Bradly, who got Chris back into riding and soon racing.

He is now perusing "Wild Ideas to Change the World."

To pay for all of this, (and his truck, and his two dogs, and his cat, and his new found interest in fixing computers, not using then, just fixing them...), he is the supervisor of the maintenance department at Venice Minerals, a gravel mining company, located in, surprisingly, Venice Florida. Parts of his duties include (because even he is not entirely sure) making sure the equipment, machinery, trucks, plants, and all of the "other stuff" runs.

Although he has never even seen any of the Habs, (true remote engineering!) he is looking forward to finally spending some time at MDRS in the near future.

Paul Graham - Mission Support
Chief Engineering Officer
Engineering Team Coordinator.

Paul Graham has been working as an Engineer for Mission Support since FMARS 2002. As his professional qualifications include attending Colorado School of Mines where he studied Engineering Physics, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering as a triple major, and has worked in every building trade, including several years as a plumber, a tinner and an electrician. He has extensive RV experience from construction, repair, refitting, and living, having spent two years as a "full timer" and even spent a few days working on the ARES rover.

Currently he is the CTO of Alpine Systems a PC consulting company where he loves to teach people how to use their computers in a fun creative manner and Alpine Systems Engineering, a Linux/Unix consulting and Web/e-mail hosting company were he spends most of his time building and breaking servers and figuring new and creative ways to use or abuse computers and electronic hardware. He is currently working on several Embedded controller real time telemetry and streaming media projects.

His other interests include writing (He is currently writing a novel with several published short stories and non-fiction magazine articles), photography, videography, theater, acting, mountaineering, hiking and other outdoor activities, SCUBA diving, and he is an amateur radio operator (KC0IFZ).

Hugh S. Gregory - Mission Support
Chief Documents Editor for MDRS & FMARS
Official Cartographer and Databases Curator

Hugh S. Gregory started volunteering with The Mars Society in December of 2004 as an Industrial Paramedic member of the Flight Surgeon Team and in 2005 he joined Mission Support and the ET as Chief Documents Editor. Currently he has two research projects underway. As a member of the Musk Observatory Astronomy Team he initiated Project M.O.S.S. (Musk Observatory Supernova Search) on MDRS Crew 35 and he is also developing a VR simulator, (Project M.A.S.T. - the Mars Analogue Simulation Trainer), to help train and prepare crews for their rotations at the society's research stations. His survey of the complete ATV trail network around MDRS for Project MAST and subsequent remapping of it got him appointed as Official Cartographer and Curator of the Way Point Databases.

Professionally an avid Spaceflight Historian based in Vancouver Canada, he's produced and sold space history videos, including "Voyager 2 at Neptune", "Soviet Space Disasters" and "The Flight Of Buran - The Russian Shuttle Story". His slide/video shows have been appearing at Conventions across North America and also overseas since 1990. That said, he soon discovered that being a Spaceflight Historian doesn’t pay the bills, so he went back to school. In the years since has worked as a Survey Technician, an Industrial Paramedic/E.M.T. and managed his own Occupational Health and Safety Program consulting service.

In October 2005 Hugh and his wife Anne became the first legally married couple to reside and do EVA's and research at a society reserach station during the Project M.A.S.T. off season crew rotation.
On weekends he's a private pilot, amateur astronomer (Member RASC), and enjoys hiking with his wife.

Robert Hawk - Mission Support
Controls and Systems Monitoring Engineer

Robert Hawk Robert Hawk was introduced to the Mars Society through his involvement in the Civil Air Patrol missions to the MDRS. On his third tour (CAP-MDRS V Jun 26-30, 2006), his second as a CAP Crew Commander, he met the ETC, Paul Graham who invited Robert to get involved with the Engineering Team. Since then he has been trained for the roles of support engineer and CapCom.

Robert started with the ET while still a high school Senior, making him one of the youngest on the Mission Support and ET staffs. He was invited to join the refit mission before the MDRS 2006/07 field season and the shakedown team at its beginning, but because of school commitments, he had to decline both invitations. He fully intends to serve on a "real" numbered crew during the 2010/2011 field season.

Robert is also a Cadet Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil Air Patrol (United States Air Force Auxiliary). He will have served with the Civil Air Patrol for seven years in September of 2007. In that time he has distinguished himself as a leader and instructor, receiving the Meritorious Service Award, a Commander's Commendation for his commanding the 2006 Desert Hawk IV Training Encampment, the Air Force Association Cadet of the Year Award Medal (2003) and a letter of commendation from CAP National Headquarters for education outreach.

Robert plans to attend Arizona State University for a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering. After completing his education, he will either join the United States Navy or the United States Air Force, with the goal of a career as a fighter pilot.

Pete Gray - Mission Support
Electronics Technician
Suit Task Force Liaison

Pete Gray is an Electronics Technician whose job responsibilities include the testing and troubleshooting of devices for several railroads across the globe. A former Navy Operations Specialist with experience aboard three different classes of surface ships, Pete graduated with Honors in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. Pete's professional certifications include Level Two Traffic Signals Technician, Aerial Lift, and Boom Truck Operator to 25 tons capacity.

A member of the Spacesuit Task Force, Pete has also aided with Mission Support for MDRS since the Second Field Season of 2002.

James Harris - Mission Support
Engineering XO
Electrician, Observatory Liaison, GreenHobbit

James Harris, is a network support supervisor at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. A sixth generation Texan, he has worked as a lifeguard, electrician, computer design and production technician, and chef. Currently an undergraduate pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, James hopes to acquire an advanced degree in data communications by the time he reaches his 40th birthday. He currently holds an Associate of Science degree in Computer Science, many technical certifications in network administration, various emergency response certifications, and various OSHA approved heavy equipment certifications. His hobbies include motorcycles, hunting and camping, darts, and amateur astronomy.

As a member of the Mars Society since 1999 James is active on the web and database teams and serves as Webmaster for the Political Task Force. Most recently James served as Communications Engineer for MDRS Crew 22 where he became familiar with the operation and maintenance of the habitat as well as the GreenHab and Musk Observatory.

Gustave Scheerbaum
Civil Engineer

Gustave Scheerbaum, P.E. is a Civil Engineer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation from the Pennsylvania State University with bachelor's degrees in Civil Engineering and German, he has worked in private consulting for the last nine years. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and Delaware and currently works as a senior civil engineer and project manager in Center-City Philadelphia.

Gus has followed his life-long interest in Mars in a number of ways. He is interested in In-Situ-Resource-Utilization with applications for construction material manufacture. He is also a politically active humans-to-Mars advocate.

Gus is an avid environmentalist and takes strong interest in public transit issues, smart urban development planning, and open-space preservation. He has successfully combined his advocacy and technical interests into a personal mission. As a veteran of MDRS, Gus hopes to contribute his engineering and practical experience-based insight to ongoing engineering projects and operations.

Inactive Reserve:

Nick Hall-Patch
Communications Engineer

Nick Hall-Patch is a technologist with the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia, and designs, builds and maintains electronics used in oceanographic research. He is also a radio amateur with a particular interest in studying radio propagation at medium frequencies. He has done a fair bit of offshore fieldwork during the course of his present career, and has had many ongoing battles with Murphy's Law with limited resources. Along with his own experiences at MDRS, this enables him to empathize with the engineering tribulations of the various MDRS crews.

Ashraf Hegazy
Astronomer

Ashraf Hegazy's academic interests include astronomy, biochemistry, and psychology. He co-founded the Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe (STAHR), and has been an avid amateur astronomer and a strong advocate of manned space exploration ever since Neil Armstrong visited his elementary school twenty years ago. Originally from Egypt, Ashraf has been living and working in Boston, Massachusetts for most of the past 12 years. He is a member of the Mars Society and the Planetary Society. Ashraf is looking forward to many rotations at MDRS.