From: Dr. H. Paul Shuch (n6tx_at_setileague.org)
Date: Sun Apr 03 2005 - 11:07:04 PDT
SETI League Seeks Engineering Intern
For more information contact: Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Executive Director
(201) 641-1770, or email info @ setileague.org
Little Ferry, NJ.., 3 April 2005 -- Thanks to a significant hardware
donation from a corporate sponsor, The SETI League, Inc. is now looking
for a full/part time intern to advance a cutting-edge SETI project at
its Northern New Jersey headquarters. Since the project is largely
software-based, only part-time attendance at HQ will be necessary.
The Project
The SETI League has received a major donation of equipment, including
high-speed A/D converters, digital receivers, and Quad-TI6701 floating
point DSP boards. These are all "VME" boards which together can form the
foundation of a microwave receiver capable of searching a million
channels or more for narrowband signals possibly transmitted by
extraterrestrial aliens. This is all modern hardware (most manufactured
by Pentek) with enormous processing power. In order to be useful,
software will have to be written to unify the boards into a working
receiver, and to process the data to find signals in the noise. This
potentially enormous job is simplified somewhat by resources available
on the Internet, but it is still a lot of work.
The "Job"
The SETI League is looking for someone who is willing to work on this
project for several months, or longer if possible. It will require
selfless devotion for minimal reward. (The project has no budget.)
However it will be an intellectual challenge of the highest order, and
will allow the budding scientist to get some practical experience in
electronics, DSP, advanced math, and other disciplines that will look
good on a resume and be pretty interesting, too. (And if your receiver
actually finds that elusive alien signal, a little fame may come along.)
The successful volunteer will need these skills:
* Understanding of DSP, FFT and possibly the KLT
* Ability to program same in C
* Sufficient mental versatility to deal with lots and LOTS of
hardware registers, VME cards, etc., (in a software sort of way)
* Reasonable charisma with mathematics
Although hardware skills would be desirable, there should be sufficient
help around HQ to assist with electronic hardware and construction issues.
This position is open immediately. Of course The SETI League understands
that potential student interns will more likely be available during the
summer. Interested parties are invited to contact SETI League president
Richard Factor via email (rcf @ setileague.org).
Largely using radio telescopes and optical telescopes, SETI scientists
seek to determine whether humankind is alone in the universe. Since
Congress terminated NASA's SETI funding in 1993, The SETI League and
other scientific groups have privatized the research. Amateur and
professional scientists interested in participating in the search for
intelligent alien life, and citizens wishing to help support it, should
email join @ setileague.org, check the SETI League Web site at
http://www.setileague.org/, send a fax to +1 (201) 641-1771, or contact
The SETI League, Inc. membership hotline at +1 (800) TAU-SETI. Be sure
to provide us with a postal address to which we will mail further
information. The SETI League, Inc. is a membership-supported, non-profit
[501(c)(3)], educational and scientific corporation dedicated to the
scientific Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
P.S. Tearsheets are always appreciated. Thank you.
-end-
-- H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D. Executive Director, The SETI League, Inc. 433 Liberty Street, PO Box 555, Little Ferry NJ 07643 USA voice (201) 641-1770; fax (201) 641-1771; URL http://www.setileague.org email work: n6tx_at_setileague.org; home: drseti_at_cal.berkeley.edu "We Know We're Not Alone!"
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