The Grease that Keeps the MITRE Labs' Wheels Spinning
Scott Henshaw
April 2013
 |
Scott Henshaw helps build, stock, and tend the experimental stations in MITRE's new laboratory building. |
|
|
Scott Henshaw sits at his computer entering radio frequency data he's collected from the laboratories he tends. In 2012, MITRE unveiled a new research building with three floors of open laboratory space stocked with hundreds of pieces of tech equipment, ranging from simple screwdrivers to sophisticated analysis equipment.
As a senior tech project support manager, it is Henshaw's responsibility (among many others) to keep track of that equipment. By using radio-frequency identification tags, he'll be able to pinpoint the exact location of every doodad and geegaw. Tagging each piece of equipment is time consuming, but it will make the work of the MITRE researchers he supports that much easier.
Doing What They Do Best
Henshaw and his team of electronic and mechanical assemblers, technicians, and engineering assistants build, stock, and tend the rows of experimental stations that fill MITRE's new lab space. "We are the grease that keeps the laboratory wheels spinning. When researchers want to start an experiment, they explain what they want to do and our team will help them create it. We take their vision and help make it real."
Besides keeping inventory, Henshaw also manages procurement and coordinates the calibration of the lab equipment. Although not glamorous, these responsibilities are critical to MITRE's work.
Experience and Ingenuity
Our government sponsors have strict procurement rules. But they also have crucial mission responsibilities that they count on MITRE to support. When supply shortages threaten to derail a project, researchers often rely on Henshaw's experience and ingenuity to keep things on schedule.
For example, a researcher working on a recent project supporting the warfighter needed to get three new computers to the front lines immediately. Knowing that procuring the computers would take too long for the time-sensitive mission, Henshaw located a trio of laptops in temporary storage. Knowing he would have time to properly procure replacements for them, he shipped them to the frontlines, keeping the warfighter project on schedule.
"When the warfighter counts on support from a MITRE project, you don't have the luxury to say 'No, it can't be done.' Instead we say, 'How can we do this? Because it has to be done.'"
Only as Good as Your Tools
Properly calibrated testing equipment is also vital to the work MITRE performs for its sponsors. "The government needs to be confident we're providing them with accurate data," he says.
To make sure every piece of equipment receives its yearly calibration, Henshaw uses color-coded labels on the equipment. Then, when he's walking down the corridors of lab benches, he can easily spot which equipment is due for calibration. "That lets me know if a researcher's experiment will be shut down in three months so his equipment can be tested, and that I'd better let him know ahead of time so he can make plans."
Henshaw doesn't always have the chance to make plans himself. "I have a lot of things to juggle, and I never know what's going to pop up on my plate from day to day," he admits. But the variety of challenges is what he enjoys about his job. "At MITRE if they ask you to do something and you do it well, you get more. And more is fun."
Chilled for a Canine Cause
Even more fun awaits Henshaw when he gets home from work: a house full of dogs. He and his wife, Noreen, are members of New England English Springer Spaniel Rescue. "We always have a dog in the house that we're fostering."
Henshaw's devotion to man's best friend can sometimes stretch a bit too far. This past New Year's day, he participated in the Pit Bull Plunge in Providence, RI. To raise money and awareness for pit bulls, he and seven friends jumped into the frigid ocean wearing brightly colored tutus. (His was lime-green.) And because one of his friends won a bet by raising more money than he did, Henshaw was obliged to dive in twice, all while his wife stood on the beach in her warm parka and snapped photos.
But he's always willing to take the plunge for a good cause, whether it's for foster dogs or the warfighter. His only concern is that the work gets done. "If I can save researchers time and worry, then I'm happy. That's our role as tech project support. We'll do our job so that MITRE researchers can keep doing theirs."
—by Christopher Lockheardt
Related Information
Articles and News
Websites
|
