Support Staff

David Janos, Quality Assurance Manager

Dave Janos joined Vista Photonics in July 2017. He has been working in Quality/Mission Assurance at various levels and positions over the years, with most of his career in the Aerospace industry. David comes to Vista Photonics with 40 years of experience in Quality Management Systems, with a strong background in NDT. He has worked with numerous government agencies over the years including all military branches, NASA, and FAA Repair Stations. David has worked on special projects such as the Atlas, Minute Man, THAAD, SM1, SM3, and Orion, as well as many other projects during his career. Other projects include refueling outages for several nuclear power plants and electromagnetic interference field units/mobile shelters for the Military. He has performed numerous audits as Lead Auditor in the Aerospace industry for compliance audits for NADCAP, ISO and AS 9100.

Hector Chavez, Electronics Technician

Hector joined Vista Photonics in July 2017. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, El Paso with a BS in Electrical Engineering where he focused on renewable energy, electronics and microelectronics, signal processing, and circuit design. Notable projects in which he participated include a solar powered evaporative cooler with smartphone control, EKG sensor, and a solar powered phone charger. As the Electronics Technician, he works alongside the Research Engineers to troubleshoot electronic applications and ensure that all soldering and wiring work is completed efficiently and to required standards.

J. Taylor Pilgrim, Quality Assurance Specialist

Taylor Pilgrim joined Vista Photonics in November 2017. He attended both New Mexico Junior College and Santa Fe Community College, and worked as a Field Service Technician at Comcast/Xfinity prior to joining the company. Taylor has received Certified Lead Auditor training and works with the QA Manager to ensure continued compliance with our AS 9100 certification. He also provides administrative and technical assistance for the company. His responsibilities include Government Property Management, purchasing, IT support, administrative systems maintenance, special projects, and customer service.

Ivan White, VHDL Developer

Ivan joined Vista Photonics in June 2018. He graduated from New Mexico State University with a BS in Electrical Engineering, specializing in signal processing, communications, and integrated circuits. He is currently pursuing a MS in Electrical Engineering, with graduate research focused on optical localization using image differencing in the visible spectrum. He is familiar with C/C++, Python, and Swift programming methodologies, and has a background in VHDL/Verilog design principles. As a VHDL developer, he works with the Chief and Research Engineers to turn new design concepts into completed hardware systems using high-performance FPGAs.