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Kai Staats
Central Namibia game preserve, 2015
Born (1970-07-16) July 16, 1970 (age 54)
Spearfish, South Dakota
NationalityAmerican
Websitewww.kaistaats.com

Kai Kruse Staats is an entrepreneur, scientist, and filmmaker.[1] He is the director of research for SAM at Biosphere 2 and oversaw the habitat's design and construction.[2] Staats and his colleagues developed and built SAM as a hermetically sealed and pressurized research station and habitat analog for experiments related to living and working 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, where he served as a visiting scientist.[7][8][9][10]

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

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 led a prototypal workshop for the application of evolutionary computation to astroparticle physics (CHEAPR).[22] Since 2017, he has been 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 and 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 transitioned to digital film in collaboration with his brother, Jae Staats. Together, they co-founded the Almost Famous Film Festival (A3F), which 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 to 2014 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 a fully multi-messenger event involving merging binary neutron stars.[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] In 2015–16, Staats produced a documentary titled "I Am Palestine," which shares the stories of Palestinians who once lived side-by-side with Israeli neighbors.[30] The film portrays a region now marked by uncertainty and conflict.[31] It was screened at eight film festivals and won several awards, including at the NYC Indie Film Awards, Best Shorts Competition, 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

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  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, 23 September 2019, 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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