Technical Staff

Hector Chavez, Associate Electrical Engineer

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. After completing the NASA ESD Level 1 course, Hector became the ESD Facilities Monitor. He is in charge of maintaining all ESD requirements to ensure compliance with ANSI/ESD and NASA standards. Hector has also completed Soldered Electrical Connections Through-Hole and Surface Mount courses to become certified in IPC and NASA standard, and holds a certification to Workmanship Standard for Crimping Interconnecting Cables, Harnesses, and wiring to NASA standard.

Ivan White, Senior Software Engineer

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 also earned a Masters 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 the Senior Software Engineer, he works with the Chief and Research Engineers to turn new design concepts into completed hardware systems using high-performance FPGAs.

Kyle Jones, Research Scientist and Quality Support

Kyle joined Vista Photonics in November 2019. He graduated from New Mexico State University with a BS in Chemistry. While at NMSU, Kyle was an undergraduate research assistant in an analytical chemistry lab specializing in uranium abatement using clay material. He then worked as a research lab technician in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry performing uranium analyses using spectrofluorimtery and clay characterization, such as pasticity, zeta potential, and surface area. As a Research Scientist, Kyle works with the Technical Staff in the research and development of optical trace gas detectors. He has also been tasked with supporting the Quality System Manager to ensure compliance to the AS9100 certification.

J. Taylor Pilgrim, Quality System Manager

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 is a member of the American Society for Quality and has received Certified Lead Auditor training and CMMI training. He works to ensure our focus on customer quality improvement activities across the organization. Taylor performs and coordinates internal quality audits and assures appropriate levels of corrective actions. He also oversees Government Property Management, including Bond Room management, and assists with purchasing, IT support, administrative systems maintenance, special projects, and customer service.