Fresh PCB Concepts: Key Considerations for Reliability, Performance, and Compliance in PCBs
Elementary Mr. Watson: Navigating RF—A Glide Path Approach to Design Success
Designers Notebook: Layer Stackup Planning for RF Circuit Boards
Just Ask Heidi: Winning NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award
January 11, 2021 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 1 minute
First, we asked you to send in your questions for Happy Holden, Joe Fjelstad, Eric Camden, John Mitchell, and Tara Dunn in our “Just Ask” series. Now, it’s Heidi Barnes’ turn! Heidi is a senior signal and power integrity engineer at Keysight Technologies. She has written over 20 papers on SI and PI, and she is an active member in developing the new IEEE P370 standard involving interconnect S-parameter quality after fixture removal. Heidi has been awarded five patents and a NASA Silver Snoopy award (each Silver Snoopy pin flies on a space mission first), and she was named DesignCon's 2017 Engineer of the Year. We hope you enjoy “Just Ask Heidi.”
Q: I’ve never heard of the Silver Snoopy Award. How does someone win one of those?
A: The Silver Snoopy Award is a special award given by NASA astronauts to men and women contributing to spaceflight safety and mission success. While working for NASA at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, I had the privilege of working on hydrogen fire and gas detection systems to improve the safety of operating liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen rocket engine technology. Growing up, I used to see one of the original Silver Snoopy Award pins on display at the ice rink in Santa Rosa, owned by Charles M. Schulz. Charles Schulz designed the Snoopy pin during the Apollo space program, and every pin flies in space before it is awarded to the Silver Snoopy recipients. It was a proud moment when I had the opportunity to let “Sparky” Schulz know that one of his local skaters had gone on to be an engineer for NASA and receive the Silver Snoopy Award.
To submit your questions for Heidi, click here.
Share on:
Suggested Items
SEL Receives Purdue Senior Design Partner of the Year Award
05/01/2025 | Schweitzer Engineering LaboratoriesSchweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) has been awarded the Senior Design Partner of the Year Award from the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University.
OSI Systems Receives Orders for $50 Million to Support the Deployment of Cargo and Vehicle Inspection Solutions
04/29/2025 | BUSINESS WIREOSI Systems, Inc. announced that its Security division received multiple awards totaling approximately $50 million from an existing U.S. customer to support the ongoing deployment of its industry leading Rapiscan Cargo and Vehicle Non-Intrusive Inspection technology.
Recognizing the IPC Committee Volunteer Awards in 2025
04/24/2025 | Patty Goldman, I-Connect007In 2023, IPC created two new awards to honor standards development committee volunteers: The Hillman-Lambert Award for Volunteer of the Year and the Kessler-Goldman Award for Committee Leader of the Year. The awards were named after Hall of Fame members whose service to standards development is well-known and who have demonstrated the skills and principles that the awardees should also have.
CACI Wins Fourth Edison Award for CrossBeam, an American-made Optical Communications Terminal
04/22/2025 | CACI International Inc.CACI International Inc announced that it has been awarded a prestigious bronze Edison Award™ for CrossBeam®, the first and only American-made, Space Development Agency-compliant optical communications terminal (OCT) that provides the U.S. government with reliable data communications for long-distance crosslink applications, from space to the warfighter and back.
Flex Wins Two 2025 PACE Awards for Innovation in Automotive Compute and Power Electronics
04/22/2025 | PRNewswireFlex was named a two-time 2025 Automotive News PACE Award winner at the awards ceremony on April 15, recognized for its industry-leading Jupiter Compute Platform and Backup DC/DC Converter design platforms.