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Chris Hegarty

When Chris Hegarty completed his master's degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute a decade ago, he knew he wanted to work on technologies revolving around the Global Positioning System (GPS), the advanced radio navigation system that provides location information for users anywhere on the earth. "I had just finished my master's thesis on the design of a differential GPS network and was interested in working further in this area," says Hegarty. "GPS systems engineering is a fascinating field in that it bridges a number of disciplines, including signal processing, electromagnetics, geodesy, and statistics." Through his graduate school advisor, he was introduced to MITRE's Ron Braff, a senior member of MITRE's communications, navigation and surveillance team. "Through Ron, I learned about MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) and its unique relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (CAASD is a federally funded research and development center for the FAA.) CAASD was doing a lot of interesting work in GPS, so it sounded like a good match to me."

Hegarty joined MITRE in 1992 and soon thereafter enrolled in the corporation's Advanced Graduate Degree Program, which allows employees accepted into the program to work a shorter work week while pursuing a PhD on an accelerated basis. "MITRE paid for my PhD program and the advanced program allowed me to complete my doctorate pretty quickly," he notes. "The fact that the company provides this kind of support was really important to me."

Focused on the ionosphere…and other problems

There are many GPS technical issues still to solve—particularly as GPS becomes more and more popular for both military and civilian uses. For example, the provision of integrity—timely warnings when GPS failures occur—is of great importance to the civil aviation community. GPS positioning is affected by a number of factors, including propagation effects as the GPS signals pass through the ionosphere. MITRE is supporting the FAA by developing technology that addresses those challenges that affect GPS integrity. (Other MITRE groups work on various GPS projects for the Department of Defense, and staff within the company often collaborate on these projects to share expertise.)

Initially, Hegarty worked on the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) effort, a multibillion dollar project developed to increase the accuracy and improve the integrity of GPS signals. This system consists of a network of North American ground stations and geostationary satellite transponders that augment GPS to provide a publicly accessible, en route-navigation-through-precision approach capability. WAAS has been operational for non-safety applications since August 2000, and was commissioned for safety applications on July 10 of this year.

More recently, Hegarty has been active in a GPS modernization effort, which focuses on future GPS improvement initiatives. He has worked extensively on the signal structure characteristics for a new civil signal to accommodate civil aviation GPS needs. Starting in 2006, GPS satellites will be launched with this new civil signal. He also has been participating in a U.S. delegation that has been engaging with the European Commission on the compatibility of GPS with its proposed satellite navigation system, known as Galileo.

Hegarty has received a number of awards for his work on GPS over the past decade from organizations including the Air Traffic Controller Association, FAA, Institute of Navigation (ION), MITRE, and RTCA, Inc.

Various hats

Chris Hegarty with his wife Patti, his daughter Michelle, and his son David.

Recently, Hegarty and his family decided they wanted to relocate to the Boston area. While he first considered requesting a transfer to another section of MITRE, his managers asked if he would continue working in communications, navigation and surveillance for CAASD. "I was glad my organization could accommodate this change in our lives," says Hegarty. "Since I'll be working so far away from my (Washington, D.C., based) team, we decided it would be best for me to step down from my management responsibilities. I'm excited to have the opportunity to spend more time on technical rather than administrative work."

Hegarty continues to wear various hats, including serving as editor of NAVIGATION, a quarterly journal produced by the ION. He represents MITRE on RTCA's Program Management Committee and co-chairs an RTCA working group focused on one of the new civil GPS signals. He has taught courses in digital communications at The George Washington University and continues to teach GPS seminars several times a year. It's a full plate, but he fills it well.

Besides finding a satisfying career at MITRE, Hegarty also met his wife, Patti, here. Great career, great marriage. Is it a coincidence he found them both at MITRE?