Kai Staats

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Kai Staats
Central Namibia game preserve, 2015
Born (1970-07-16) July 16, 1970 (age 53)
Spearfish, South Dakota
NationalityAmerican
Websitewww.kaistaats.com

Kai Kruse Staats is a entrepreneur, scientist, and filmmaker.[1] He is the director of research for SAM at Biosphere 2, oversaw the habitat's design and construction.[2]Staats and his colleagues developed and built SAM as an experimental prototype of a hermetically sealed and pressurized system for training and research for when humans live and work on the Moon and Mars.[3]

At the Arizona State University School of Earth & Space Exploration, he contributed to the design of off-world human habitats as project lead for an Interplanetary Initiative Pilot Project called SIMOC,[4][5] a research-grade computer simulation and instructional interface to a Mars habitat that is hosted by National Geographic.[6]

His last film series, funded in part by the NSF, chronicled the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015 by LIGO,[7][8][9] where he served as a visiting scientist.[10]

Staats's work includes that done on iConji[11] and Yellow Dog Linux.

Career[edit]

In 1995 he founded Terra Firma Design (TFD) and continued as its sole proprietor until 2000. TFD provided website development and marketing consulting principally for companies located in Northern Colorado, including a corporate identity package for Western Telecommunications, Inc. (WTCI), website design and maintenance for New Belgium Brewing Company, and the re-design of the RB5X, an educational and hobbyist robot then produced by General Robotics Corporation.[12]

In 1999 Staats co-founded, and for ten years served as CEO of Terra Soft Solutions, Inc. (TSS). TSS developed Yellow Dog Linux, a Linux operating system for the POWER architecture with support for embedded, desktop, and server chipsets by IBM and Freescale, and computer products by Apple,[13][14] IBM,[15] Sony,[16] and others.[17][18] Terra Soft delivered the desktop OS Yellow Dog Linux and turn-key high performance computing (HPC) solutions for DoE, DoD, NASA, and higher education customers.[19][20] In 2008 Terra Soft was acquired by the Japanese company Fixstars and was renamed to Fixstars Solutions. Staats became the COO.[21]

Research[edit]

In 2016, at The Ohio State University, Staats co-organized and -lead a prototypal workshop for the application of evolutionary computation to astroparticle physics (CHEAPR).[22] Since 2017, he is assisting Professor Amy Connolly and her colleagues at OSU and Cal Poly with a student project to develop evolutionary algorithms that evolve antenna designs for improved neutrino detection.[23]

Staats was a visiting scientist at Northwestern University for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) on the application of machine learning in detector characterization, noise mitigation, and transient (supernova) detection from late 2016 through mid 2020.[10]

At the University of Arizona, Biosphere 2, he and his colleagues developed SAM,, a terrestrial analog site as a terrestrial prototype for an off-world habitat used for training and research to benefit a future space-dwelling humanity.[2] The SAM habitat analog tests the viability of mechanical and plant-based life support, studies of the microbiome of a sealed environment, food cultivation in a sealed greenhouse, tool use during extra-vehicular activities in a pressurized space suit, developing a high-fidelity computer model to aid in the design of future habitats, and many other tasks are necessary to get ready for life in space.[24]

Filmography[edit]

Staats engaged in filmmaking at an early age. His first production, in 6th grade, was a LEGO-mation shot on 8mm film. He made the move to digital film in collaboration with brother Jae Staats, co-founder of the Almost Famous Film Festival (A3F) which was launched in 2005.[25] His work in independent and later professional filmmaking began in 2011 at Holden Village, an isolated retreat center in the Washington Cascades.

From 2012-14 he produced Monitor Gray, a short science fiction film based on three short stories he wrote in high school and college.[26]

In 2013, Staats filmed and produced Chasing Asteroid 1998 QE2 for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), documenting their observations of this near-Earth interloper.[27] In 2017, Staats returned to SAAO, producing a short film about the first detection of merging binary neutron stars as a fully multi-messenger event.[28]

In the fall of 2013 he was awarded his first contract with LIGO, the gravitational-wave observatory. LIGO, A Passion for Understanding is a 20-minute documentary film completed in April 2014.[7] Subsequent NSF and university funding was provided for LIGO Generations in 2015,[8] and LIGO Detection in 2017.[9] LIGO Detection is distributed by the National Science Foundation's educational content library Science360, and related films are available at the LIGO multimedia archive.[29]

Produced in 2015-16, I am Palestine is a short documentary that shares the stories of Palestinians who once lived side-by-side with Israeli neighbors in what is now a place with an uncertain, conflicted future. The film enjoyed screening at eight film festivals, winning awards at the NYC Indie Film Awards,[30] Best Shorts Competition,[31] and Best Short Documentary at the 2016 Cabo Verde International Film Festival.[32]

In collaboration with Dr. Paul M. Sutter, Staats produced Song of the Stars, a film of the one-time live performance of a modern dance that tells the story of the first stars in the universe.[33]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'LIGO: A Passion for Understanding' — The Minds Behind the Film". Space.com. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  2. ^ a b Chandler, David. "Martian base on Earth set to host first 'astronauts'". New Scientist. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ "Crew completes simulated mission to outer space in a pressurized habitat at Biosphere 2". ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix (KNXV). 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  4. ^ "What balance of mechanical and biological systems will be required to sustain human life in a growing, off-world habitat? | Interplanetary Initiative". interplanetary.asu.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-23.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ SIMOC Interplanetary Initiative ASU, retrieved 2019-10-23
  6. ^ "ASU Interplanetary Initiative - SIMOC Pilot Project". Over the Sun. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  7. ^ a b "LIGO, A Passion for Understanding". LIGO Multimedia Library.
  8. ^ a b "LIGO Generations". LIGO Multimedia Library.
  9. ^ a b "LIGO Detection". New Scientist. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  10. ^ a b "LIGO Scientific Collaboration Directory". roster.ligo.org. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  11. ^ Kaplan, Jeremy (27 March 2015). "Inventor Proposes New Language for Cell Phone Messaging -- Using Hieroglyphics". Fox News.
  12. ^ "Terra Firma sees solid base for digital video technology". BizWest. 1998-10-01. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  13. ^ "The Eye: Apple fan takes bite out of NT". BizWest. 1998-11-01. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  14. ^ "Yellow Dog Linux on the iMac | Linux Journal". www.linuxjournal.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  15. ^ "Linux and IBM PowerPCs | Linux Journal". www.linuxjournal.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  16. ^ Panton, Matthew. "Hands-on experience: Linux on the PS3". CNET. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  17. ^ "New Yellow Dog Linux supports dual-core G5s, more". Macworld. 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  18. ^ "The Best Game in Town | Linux Journal". www.linuxjournal.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  19. ^ Fried, Ina. "Navy to draft Linux-powered Macs". CNET. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  20. ^ "Linux in Government: Navy Sonar Opens New Opportunities for Linux Clusters and IBM G5 servers | Linux Journal". www.linuxjournal.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  21. ^ Negus, Christopher (2010). Linux Bible 2010 Edition. Wiley. p. 628. ISBN 9780470633823.
  22. ^ "Computing in High-Energy AstroParticle Research Workshop (CHEAPR2016) | Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP)". ccapp.osu.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  23. ^ "GENETIS | Connolly's Group". u.osu.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  24. ^ "Becoming a multiplanetary species: Crew completes first mission in pressurized habitat at Biosphere 2". University of Arizona News. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  25. ^ "About". www.thea3f.net. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Monitor Gray - Short Story & Sci-Fi Film". Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Chasing Asteroid 1998 QE2". SAAO. 2013-06-05. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  28. ^ "SALT and SAAO telescopes investigate the origin of the first detection of gravitational waves produced by two colliding neutron stars". SAAO. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  29. ^ "LIGO Scientific Collaboration - Multimedia". www.ligo.org. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  30. ^ "NYC Indie Film Awards". www.nycindiefilmawards.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  31. ^ "Award of Merit September 2016 |". Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  32. ^ "Cabo Verde International Film Festival". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  33. ^ "Song of the Stars - Paul M. Sutter —". www.pmsutter.com. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
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