Get to Know a LASPian is a Q&A profile series that features LASP employees and the work that they do. This first profile in the series highlights Brian Evans, IT Helpdesk Technical Lead, who has a family history at LASP.
Q: Where did you grow up? As a child, what did you want to do or be when you grew up?
A: I grew up in Boulder, and at LASP, as my dad spent his entire career working here. I grew up wanting to be either an astronaut, a race car driver, or a rock star :).
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I graduated from Fairview High School in 1999, then went to CU Denver to pursue a degree in Sound Engineering and Music Business for about a year and a half. I decided to change fields, and transferred to Front Range Community College, where I completed an associate’s degree in computer systems administration in 2004.
Q: What was your path to working for LASP and when did you start working here?
A: As mentioned above, my dad spent his entire career at LASP, building and supporting the computers, servers, and networks that allow everyone at LASP to do what we do, so you could say my path to LASP started as soon as I was born! I have memories of roaming the halls and computer rooms with my dad, in the Duane Physics and Flatiron Park buildings, with huge tape drives spinning their reels back and forth. When the construction of LSTB was just about finished I specifically remember several summer days spent rollerblading around the halls before any carpet had been installed.
While attending CU Denver in 2001, my dad let me know that LASP was looking to hire a student to manage the LASP public and staff websites. I applied and got the job working under Margi Klemp. It was probably around that time that I decided I could learn a lot of what I was doing at CU Denver on my own. I had taken some classes in that realm in high school and had grown up tinkering with the computers that my dad had brought home to work with. So, I switched gears and started studying computer administration. By the time I graduated in 2004, the IT team at LASP (which was only three or four people at the time) was hiring for a new full-time position, so again I applied, and I’ve been here ever since!
Q: Tell us about what you do in your job. E.g. What’s an average day like? What is your favorite part of your job?
A: It’s hard to say what an average day is like in the IT Helpdesk, as we end up doing a multitude of different tasks, but everything revolves around making sure computers and other devices are working as they should in order for everyone else at LASP do be able to do what they do. Our tasks include helping order computers and software, getting those computers built, managing user accounts, testing and installing new operating system and software versions, and then troubleshooting all of those things when they’re not working as they should. For the last few years, I’ve been in the role of technical lead of the Helpdesk, so I’ve been doing more behind-the-scenes stuff, like refining Helpdesk processes and policies, in order for us to more effectively support everyone’s IT needs.
Q: What’s the most interesting, unusual, or extraordinary experience you’ve had so far working for LASP?
A: It’s kind of hard to point to just one experience, so continuing with the theme of LASP being part of my upbringing…
It’s honestly been quite extraordinary and unique to have been able to watch the launches of satellites and instruments that my dad had played a role in, and then to later use my own hands to support some of those same missions, and more! It’s truly fulfilling to be working with so many interesting and talented people and to see everyone’s hard work come full circle.
Q: What do you do for fun outside of work?
A: Outside of work, music has always been another dominant part of my life. My mom was a music educator, so my brother and I grew up learning to play piano and drums, and then taught ourselves guitar and more. I don’t play as much as I used to, but I still try to go to as many concerts as I can, especially when my brother is in town, on tour with one of his many bands. I also enjoy trying to be a chef and crafting with my girlfriend Joan, building Star Wars and other sci-fi themed Lego sets, woodworking, taking extended mountain drives, and playing as many video games as I have time left over for (which isn’t much, but it’s enough!)
