David Beard
Assistant Principal Investigator/ Control System Architect at SA Photonics, a CACI Company- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Santiago Alban
I worked with David as part of the Camera-Systems controls team, as a colleague since Jan of 2014, and as his manager since early 2015. Within our team, David has a unique combination of mechanical and controls design skills, which enable him to make keen observations and recommendations ranging from test equipment setups to mechanical modeling of electromechanical systems with complex materials. David has a strong work ethic and is passionate about his work - he is outspoken, but is always professional and courteous. He has accepted broad responsibilities to lead complex efforts on behalf of our team that have required technical skill, systems architecture understanding, and cross-functional influence. David was the first controls engineer within the camera group at Apple, and was responsible for developing our standard methods for sensor calibrations and signal conditioning that enabled the deployment of the first OIS in the iPhone 6+. At that time, he also established much of the basis of our control-testing and instrumentation that we still use today, including laser metrology systems and real-time testing platforms for rapid prototyping. One of his seminal contributions within the last two years involved the design and building of a precise, custom OIS motion-testing machine that did not have a third-party equivalent. This machine has enabled us to do very precise quantification of iPhone camera OIS accuracy, and really underscored David’s engineering craftsmanship for testing machinery. David served as technical lead for a very important controls-related deliverable for the past two years, a role that required significant responsibility, technical depth, intuition for system-level specifications, knowledge of factory logistics, and execution of good teamwork with a number of partner teams. He led development of control-system topology and specifications, tracked factory test results, and initiated validation work. Throughout the effort, David mentored and led other new engineers with varied levels of experience (new grads to seasoned professionals) that have contributed to the project in different capacities. Throughout his career at Apple David has been an instrumental contributor to development and realization of iPhone camera control systems. He has earned trust and respect from his peers, demonstrated passion for his work, self-confidence in abilities, and admirable perseverance through difficult situations. I am confident in recommending him as a valuable asset to projects involving test-equipment development, electromechanical control systems, prototyping, or systems architecture design.
Malcolm Northcott
I worked with David extensively at AOptix. He is a talented control engineer, who is easy to work with. We worked on some complex control system including multiple nested control loops. He performed stability analysis and helped us get the systems running and tuned up. I'd recommend David for any position that involves working on complex control systems.
Santiago Alban
I worked with David as part of the Camera-Systems controls team, as a colleague since Jan of 2014, and as his manager since early 2015. Within our team, David has a unique combination of mechanical and controls design skills, which enable him to make keen observations and recommendations ranging from test equipment setups to mechanical modeling of electromechanical systems with complex materials. David has a strong work ethic and is passionate about his work - he is outspoken, but is always professional and courteous. He has accepted broad responsibilities to lead complex efforts on behalf of our team that have required technical skill, systems architecture understanding, and cross-functional influence. David was the first controls engineer within the camera group at Apple, and was responsible for developing our standard methods for sensor calibrations and signal conditioning that enabled the deployment of the first OIS in the iPhone 6+. At that time, he also established much of the basis of our control-testing and instrumentation that we still use today, including laser metrology systems and real-time testing platforms for rapid prototyping. One of his seminal contributions within the last two years involved the design and building of a precise, custom OIS motion-testing machine that did not have a third-party equivalent. This machine has enabled us to do very precise quantification of iPhone camera OIS accuracy, and really underscored David’s engineering craftsmanship for testing machinery. David served as technical lead for a very important controls-related deliverable for the past two years, a role that required significant responsibility, technical depth, intuition for system-level specifications, knowledge of factory logistics, and execution of good teamwork with a number of partner teams. He led development of control-system topology and specifications, tracked factory test results, and initiated validation work. Throughout the effort, David mentored and led other new engineers with varied levels of experience (new grads to seasoned professionals) that have contributed to the project in different capacities. Throughout his career at Apple David has been an instrumental contributor to development and realization of iPhone camera control systems. He has earned trust and respect from his peers, demonstrated passion for his work, self-confidence in abilities, and admirable perseverance through difficult situations. I am confident in recommending him as a valuable asset to projects involving test-equipment development, electromechanical control systems, prototyping, or systems architecture design.
Malcolm Northcott
I worked with David extensively at AOptix. He is a talented control engineer, who is easy to work with. We worked on some complex control system including multiple nested control loops. He performed stability analysis and helped us get the systems running and tuned up. I'd recommend David for any position that involves working on complex control systems.
Santiago Alban
I worked with David as part of the Camera-Systems controls team, as a colleague since Jan of 2014, and as his manager since early 2015. Within our team, David has a unique combination of mechanical and controls design skills, which enable him to make keen observations and recommendations ranging from test equipment setups to mechanical modeling of electromechanical systems with complex materials. David has a strong work ethic and is passionate about his work - he is outspoken, but is always professional and courteous. He has accepted broad responsibilities to lead complex efforts on behalf of our team that have required technical skill, systems architecture understanding, and cross-functional influence. David was the first controls engineer within the camera group at Apple, and was responsible for developing our standard methods for sensor calibrations and signal conditioning that enabled the deployment of the first OIS in the iPhone 6+. At that time, he also established much of the basis of our control-testing and instrumentation that we still use today, including laser metrology systems and real-time testing platforms for rapid prototyping. One of his seminal contributions within the last two years involved the design and building of a precise, custom OIS motion-testing machine that did not have a third-party equivalent. This machine has enabled us to do very precise quantification of iPhone camera OIS accuracy, and really underscored David’s engineering craftsmanship for testing machinery. David served as technical lead for a very important controls-related deliverable for the past two years, a role that required significant responsibility, technical depth, intuition for system-level specifications, knowledge of factory logistics, and execution of good teamwork with a number of partner teams. He led development of control-system topology and specifications, tracked factory test results, and initiated validation work. Throughout the effort, David mentored and led other new engineers with varied levels of experience (new grads to seasoned professionals) that have contributed to the project in different capacities. Throughout his career at Apple David has been an instrumental contributor to development and realization of iPhone camera control systems. He has earned trust and respect from his peers, demonstrated passion for his work, self-confidence in abilities, and admirable perseverance through difficult situations. I am confident in recommending him as a valuable asset to projects involving test-equipment development, electromechanical control systems, prototyping, or systems architecture design.
Malcolm Northcott
I worked with David extensively at AOptix. He is a talented control engineer, who is easy to work with. We worked on some complex control system including multiple nested control loops. He performed stability analysis and helped us get the systems running and tuned up. I'd recommend David for any position that involves working on complex control systems.
Santiago Alban
I worked with David as part of the Camera-Systems controls team, as a colleague since Jan of 2014, and as his manager since early 2015. Within our team, David has a unique combination of mechanical and controls design skills, which enable him to make keen observations and recommendations ranging from test equipment setups to mechanical modeling of electromechanical systems with complex materials. David has a strong work ethic and is passionate about his work - he is outspoken, but is always professional and courteous. He has accepted broad responsibilities to lead complex efforts on behalf of our team that have required technical skill, systems architecture understanding, and cross-functional influence. David was the first controls engineer within the camera group at Apple, and was responsible for developing our standard methods for sensor calibrations and signal conditioning that enabled the deployment of the first OIS in the iPhone 6+. At that time, he also established much of the basis of our control-testing and instrumentation that we still use today, including laser metrology systems and real-time testing platforms for rapid prototyping. One of his seminal contributions within the last two years involved the design and building of a precise, custom OIS motion-testing machine that did not have a third-party equivalent. This machine has enabled us to do very precise quantification of iPhone camera OIS accuracy, and really underscored David’s engineering craftsmanship for testing machinery. David served as technical lead for a very important controls-related deliverable for the past two years, a role that required significant responsibility, technical depth, intuition for system-level specifications, knowledge of factory logistics, and execution of good teamwork with a number of partner teams. He led development of control-system topology and specifications, tracked factory test results, and initiated validation work. Throughout the effort, David mentored and led other new engineers with varied levels of experience (new grads to seasoned professionals) that have contributed to the project in different capacities. Throughout his career at Apple David has been an instrumental contributor to development and realization of iPhone camera control systems. He has earned trust and respect from his peers, demonstrated passion for his work, self-confidence in abilities, and admirable perseverance through difficult situations. I am confident in recommending him as a valuable asset to projects involving test-equipment development, electromechanical control systems, prototyping, or systems architecture design.
Malcolm Northcott
I worked with David extensively at AOptix. He is a talented control engineer, who is easy to work with. We worked on some complex control system including multiple nested control loops. He performed stability analysis and helped us get the systems running and tuned up. I'd recommend David for any position that involves working on complex control systems.
Experience
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SA Photonics, a CACI Company
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United States
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Defense and Space Manufacturing
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1 - 100 Employee
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Assistant Principal Investigator/ Control System Architect
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Jan 2018 - Present
Architect and technical lead for beam stabilization in airborne laser communication platforms for >$10M USAF contracts. Lead effort from concept to successful test of first systems and into follow-on contract. Credibility from this satisfied customer contributed significantly to SA Photonics winning multiple large contracts and associated increase in company value. SA Photonics was acquired by CACI in December 2021. Designed multi-actuator, multi-sensor beam stabilization and tracking architecture. Distributed control uses a combination of classical control and Kalman filtering to fuse inputs from multiple sensors and allocate actuation appropriate to limitations of mechanism involved. Show less
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Apple
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United States
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Computers and Electronics Manufacturing
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Controls & Systems Engineer, Camera Hardware Group (iPhone)
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Oct 2012 - Jan 2018
Camera feature architect for stabilized optics in iPhone 6+ and later. Feature development concept to prototype to production. Multiple patents Camera feature architect for stabilized optics in iPhone 6+ and later. Feature development concept to prototype to production. Multiple patents
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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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United States
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Research Services
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700 & Above Employee
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Engineering Physicist/ Project Manager
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Oct 2011 - Sep 2012
Project Manager/ Physicist for X-Ray Transport, Optics and Diagnostics (XTOD) of the Linac Coherent Light Source II Project. • Lead $20M XTOD team from Phase 1 through Phase 2 funding review by Department of Energy. • Managed planning for scope of design, fabrication and installation of the XTOD. • Lead a team of engineers, designers, and technical experts to define project scope to meet technical requirements, within budgetary and schedule constraints. Project Manager/ Physicist for X-Ray Transport, Optics and Diagnostics (XTOD) of the Linac Coherent Light Source II Project. • Lead $20M XTOD team from Phase 1 through Phase 2 funding review by Department of Energy. • Managed planning for scope of design, fabrication and installation of the XTOD. • Lead a team of engineers, designers, and technical experts to define project scope to meet technical requirements, within budgetary and schedule constraints.
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AOptix Technologies
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United States
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Telecommunications
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1 - 100 Employee
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Systems Engineer, Senior Staff.
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Aug 2009 - Jun 2011
Technical lead / systems architect for stabilized pointing and control system for free-space laser communication products. Designed cascaded beam control mechanisms, gimbal and fast steering mirror. Developed tracking and pointing control algorithms using Kalman filter and multi-sensor fusion of optical and inertial sensors. Matlab/Simulink simulations to evaluate trade studies and manage performance to requirements. Primary technical interface to customer / vendors. Technical lead / systems architect for stabilized pointing and control system for free-space laser communication products. Designed cascaded beam control mechanisms, gimbal and fast steering mirror. Developed tracking and pointing control algorithms using Kalman filter and multi-sensor fusion of optical and inertial sensors. Matlab/Simulink simulations to evaluate trade studies and manage performance to requirements. Primary technical interface to customer / vendors.
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Lockheed Martin
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United States
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Defense and Space Manufacturing
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700 & Above Employee
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Electro-Optical Engineer, Senior Staff
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Oct 2002 - Aug 2009
Technical lead / individual contributor for design, analysis and test of stabilized opto-electro-mechanical systems. Airborne Laser (ABL): Project lead for actively controlled steering mirrors for high energy laser beam stabilization. Lead project from proposal, to prototype and into flight production. Executed design to challenging combination of controls, structural, thermal and optical requirements. Managed cost and schedule to plan. Briefed management on project status, risks and mitigations. Principal engineer responsible for integration, test and debugging of steering mirrors on ABL. LADAR test bed: Implemented data acquisition w/ nanosecond timing, real-time signal processing and control. Real-time ranging and laser frequency control (National Instruments/ Labview RealTime). Developed Matlab simulation of LADAR. Benchmarked simulation to test results. Show less
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Staff System Engineer
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Nov 2001 - Oct 2002
MEMX was a telecom start-up developing a MEMS-based all-optical telecom switch. Developed a manufacturable, hermetic optical module integrating MEMS mirror arrays, optics and optical fibers. Design enabled rapid precision alignment, hermetic sealing into robust module tested to Telcordia GR-63 requirements. Delivered to aggressive, 6-month schedule. Designed shock and vibration isolators. Optical module with suspension passed Telcordia GR-63 vibration tests. MEMX was a telecom start-up developing a MEMS-based all-optical telecom switch. Developed a manufacturable, hermetic optical module integrating MEMS mirror arrays, optics and optical fibers. Design enabled rapid precision alignment, hermetic sealing into robust module tested to Telcordia GR-63 requirements. Delivered to aggressive, 6-month schedule. Designed shock and vibration isolators. Optical module with suspension passed Telcordia GR-63 vibration tests.
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Senior Systems Engineer
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Dec 2000 - Nov 2001
This semiconductor equipment start-up developed AFM-based, wafer probe for characterizing electrical signals from sub-micron, wafer-level circuits. I executed opto-mechanical design of MEMS probe cartridge (SolidWorks). Significantly improved yield of cartridge manufacture by improving production tooling and refining process for bonding MEMS tip to the cartridge. Managed technicians assembling of probe cartridges. Defined requirements for MEMS tips. This semiconductor equipment start-up developed AFM-based, wafer probe for characterizing electrical signals from sub-micron, wafer-level circuits. I executed opto-mechanical design of MEMS probe cartridge (SolidWorks). Significantly improved yield of cartridge manufacture by improving production tooling and refining process for bonding MEMS tip to the cartridge. Managed technicians assembling of probe cartridges. Defined requirements for MEMS tips.
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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United States
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Systems Engineer
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Jun 1993 - Dec 2000
Commercialized optical position sensing technology developed at HP Labs (see below). First product, a solid state optical mouse for Microsoft, was released 4/99 and is now a huge commercial success. Simulated optical position sensing to investigate cost and performance trade-offs. Modeled effects of optics, illumination and image correlation tracking algorithms. Designed sensor package with integrated optics to reduce cost and improve performance. Co-authored application notes and data sheets. Defined requirements for LED illumination. Championed custom LED product now manufactured in volumes of >1 million units/month. Developed precision motion stage with interferometer feedback for sensor characterization. Developed real-time control & data collection in C. Developed production test equipment for sensor, lens & illumination optics. Characterized of sensor & illumination performance. Trained colleagues. HP Labs, Atomic Resolution Storage Project; Responsible for integrating all aspects of real-time DSP controlled mechanism that maintains parallelism between read/write 'head' and media with a gap of less than 100 nanometers. Show less
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Graduate Student
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Jul 1990 - Dec 1992
Active Vehicle Suspension Project Instrumented and implemented real-time control of a prototype active vehicle suspension on a hydraulically-actuated, half-car sized test platform. Active Vehicle Suspension Project Instrumented and implemented real-time control of a prototype active vehicle suspension on a hydraulically-actuated, half-car sized test platform.
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Education
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1989 - 1996
University of California, Davis
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Mechanical Engineering; Dynamic Systems & Controls -
UC Santa Barbara
M.S, Mechanical Engineering -
University of California, Berkeley
B.S, Mechanical Engineering
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