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>> My dad would take me to JPL when I was little.
They had the open houses there, and that was really nice,
just because I got to see that perspective.
I remember there was a time when I went to JPL,
and there was actually a female engineer working there,
and I said, "Wow, like, if she can do that, then why can't I?"
So, that really helped me see that, you know,
I could work at NASA someday.
If she's doing it, why can't I?
Eight-seventy, right turn, and work east, ten to ten five.
Five. My name is Steffi Valkov,
and I am a flight operations engineer at NASA.
Comments, two five six.
>> NASA eight seven zero IP inbound 9500 [inaudible].
>> My background is in aerospace engineering.
I got my bachelor's at Cal Poly Pomona,
and I always really wanted to work at NASA.
So, as a flight operations engineer, what I do is,
I am part of a team that organizes flight tests,
so my project is called UAS Integration in the NAS.
The goal of UAS in the NAS, it's in the name,
is to safely integrate unmanned aerial systems
into the national airspace.
So, what that means is that UAVs like Ikhana can fly
with other commercial airlines and smaller aircraft.
So, what we're doing during this type
of testing is having Ikhana fly against a piloted aircraft,
and what we will call these piloted aircraft is a intruder
or a manned intruder, because there is an actual pilot
on board.
Ikhana would fly within close proximity
of the intruder aircraft, a certain lateral separation
and vertical separation, and once they would get close,
there would be, sensors would be able to pick up the intruder.
These are sensors on board Ikhana,
and we would actually be able to see those alerts on the displays
so that the pilot, remote pilot that's on the ground looking
at the display can say, "Okay, I have an intruder to my left,
so I have to turn right," for example.
So, the reason we're doing this is so that one day
when remotely piloted vehicles are flying more
in the national airspace, different types of intruders,
as we call them, more safely.
So, one of the main functions that I have on my project is
that I am in charge of putting together an operations
working group.
Ted, I have your cards up,
if you want to start going through them.
So, different concerns that we look
at during these meetings is how we can most safely fly Ikhana
against a piloted intruder.
So, if you look at how close we fly during our tests,
we actually brought down the vertical separation
down to 200 feet, with 0.4 nautical miles'
lateral separation.
Now, this is really important, because we would discuss
with the pilots, you know, do you feel comfortable with this?
Do you feel safe?
Would you be able to acquire visual before,
a certain distance before the intercept point?
So, this is really critical, to make sure
that everybody's comfortable with what we're flying,
because we are flying something that's considered a little
bit riskier.
But, that's why we're doing it.
That's why we have the technology there.
We have displays there, we're looking all that,
and we're testing it in a safe environment.
When I'm outside of work,
I like to do what's called a barbershop quartet,
and I'm actually in an all-female group,
and three of the four members actually work here
at NASA Armstrong.
>> [Singing] O, say can you see, by the dawn's early light.
>> A lot of times, we like to sing at work events,
so if there's, like, a big event going on, and they need us
to sing the National Anthem, for example, we get together,
we practice, we do it in the barbershop style, and then we go
and we sing together and we perform.
>> [Singing] Through the perilous fight.
>> The other thing I really like to do is spend time
with my little sister, Lynn, and she's also a singer,
so when I get a chance to sing with her, it's really wonderful.
It gives me a chance to connect with her in that way
that I think is really special.
[ Applause ]
>> Beautiful morning, isn't it?
>> Stay us together.
>> Working at NASA has definitely been rewarding.
This kind of research is paving the road for what we're going
to be flying one day, and how things will be in the future,
so it's been really great, and it does give me a good feeling
at the end of the day, you know?
You work, and you think, like, oh, I have to do this,
I have to do this, I have, you know, a meeting tomorrow
that I have to get through, but in the end,
it's really all worth it, when you sit back and you look,
saying, like, "Wow, like, I'm actually doing this.
I'm actually a part of this."
It feels really good, to know that I am.
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