Carl Leichter

Carl wrote his first computer program in 1977 and by 1978, Carl was working at the Miami Heart Institute, where he was responsible for data acquisition and analysis in a cardio-pulmonary research project. Carl was interested in space travel, so in 1979 he enlisted in the US Air Force to become a "Missile Systems Analyst Specialist". Earning his "Missileman" badge required intensive technical training, a DOD "Top Secret" security clearance and "PRP" nuclear weapons certification. During his military service Carl was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and he played a key role in improving the MICAP performance of the 90th Strategic Missile Wing during the Able Archer 83/Operation RYaN crisis; the 90th would go on to win the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. After his Honorable Discharge from the Air Force, Carl matriculated at the University of Colorado (Boulder). In 1991, he graduated Cum Laude with degrees in Mathematics, Philosophy and Electrical Engineering. Carl then went on to Purdue University, where he taught mathematics and earned an MSEE (Biomedical Engineering) degree. During the Purdue years, Carl spent his summers engaged in Non-Proliferation and International Security (NIS) research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At LANL, Carl was granted a DOE "Q" security clearance. After graduating from Purdue, Carl became a Flight Test and Product Development Engineer at AlliedSignal Aerospace. In 1997 Carl moved to New Zealand, where he developed a VOIP prototype for the Production Engineering Corporation (PEC)/CARDAX. Then in 2000, he became a PhD Candidate at the University of Otago. To pursue his PhD research, Carl returned to Los Alamos and made the discovery that became the basis for his doctoral dissertation on "Eigenspecters". At the end of 2013, Carl was awarded his PhD. Dr. Leichter is now a Data Scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).