Gifford to tackle national security technology

Since leaving the halls of McPherson High School, Chris Gifford has certainly made something of himself.
The 2001 class valedictorian graduated from the University of Kansas last week with a Ph. D with honors in computer science. While at KU, Gifford also received his bachelors, with distinction, in computer science and his master’s in computer science.
Gifford has always enjoyed working with computers and while at KU, took advantage of several opportunities to explore different fields and work alongside experts in a variety of subjects, all while maintaining his emphasis on computer technology.
For nearly five years, Gifford took part in the National Science Foundation’s remote sensing research program in which he worked with technologies and applications that allowed robots to collect data from ice sheets for the foundation’s climate change research. In his last year with the program, Gifford had the opportunity to coordinate research trips to and from Antarctica.
“I got to do a little bit of everything,” Gifford said of working with the foundation.
During the summer of 2007, Gifford switched gears and attended summer school to study planetary science at NASA’s jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, Calif. As part of the program, Gifford helped create a probe system designed to land on the planet Venus and conduct research on the planet’s surface.
In 2008, Gifford lead a team to victory in a global robotics competition.
Each of Giffords positions and internships allowed him to experience a different aspect of the computer world. It was those opportunities that helped open up doors to longer and more permanent opportunities when it came time for Gifford to begin his job search.
“I picked a bad time to look for a job,” Gifford said of searching for jobs in a slumping economy. “But, I had a few offers.”
After being offered a position with MIT and the Navy’s premier research lab, Gifford chose to accept a position with the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Md. Gifford’ position as information systems analyst will provide him the opportunity to help develop intelligent systems for national security purposes.
The job is funded through a federal grant so much of what he will work on will be considered classified information but, Gifford said, he knows he will get to help develop technology for stand-off IED detection and new video analysis systems to help detect people of interest.
The idea and opportunity to use new and not-yet-created technology to help solve real world problems appealed to Gifford and played a major part in his decision to accept the position.
Gifford attributes his ability to find such a premier position to his hard work, dedication and internship opportunities during his college tenure.
“Time management was a big thing for me,” Gifford said. “Being able to handle a lot of things at the same time and being self-driven, that’s where a lot of my success came from.”
Gifford said he encourages anyone, despite their career goals, to pursue as many internships and opportunities as possible.
“My internships helped me land my job,” Gifford said. “I had the advantage of having of making a lot of contacts that I was able to use during my job search.”
But the most important part of his career Gifford said, is that he continues to have a passion for what he is doing.
“You’ve gotta love what you do,” Gifford said.
Gifford is the son of Mike and Dale Gifford, the grandson of Marvin and Annabelle Gifford and the nephew of Mark and Kathy Gifford, all of McPherson.
In 2005, he married Jaclyn (Tillman) also of McPherson. Jaclyn is the daughter of Cindy and Mike Tillman and the granddaughter of Maxine Tillman. Her brother Blake is currently a student at KU studying computer science.
The couple is expecting their first child in March and will move to Maryland following the Christmas holiday.