NFAC's Ana Chaverri: a free spirit still learning to fly

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Whether raising her grandchildren, riding her Harley Davidson on the open road or updating the electrical system blueprint for the control room at the world's largest wind tunnel at Arnold Engineering Development Center's, National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex in Moffett Field, Calif., Ana Chaverri is focused and in charge. 

"I maintain texts, drawings, photographs, video and arrange those in a way so they can easily be located and retrieved," she said. "And it requires a lot of organization and memory - it's very detail oriented." 

A little more than two years ago, Chaverri was working full-time as a cashier at a local café. The single mother of two grown children realized that the time had come to seek out a more suitable income to help support her family, which now includes two grandchildren. 

After enrolling in De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif., she learned about NFAC through a NASA internship program from recruiters who visited the school. 

"They do a lot of recruiting every year and I wanted to be here prior to this, but it was a commitment I wasn't quite ready for and I had to readjust my whole life, which took a whole year," she recalled. "I got this job through an internship because of the degree I'm taking - I wanted to look for administrative work and got this position. It requires patience and organization and I'm detail oriented - and those are three of my strongest qualities." 

A part-time position soon transformed into a full time one and also involved learning new skills, like mastering all of the Microsoft software, reading facility blueprints and drafting revisions on those documents using Computer-Aided Design software. She also maintains the blueprint database, which includes all of the original drawings and the more recent digital files. 

She acknowledges the learning curve has been steep, but she said that she is more than up to the challenge. 

"I learned by on-the-job training actually," she said, adding that learning how to use AutoCAD software has been a highlight of her job. "I had no idea that I would end up liking that and that I could sit that long because I'm really hyper. I enjoy it, I just love being able to do all the changes." 

AutoCAD software is used for two and three-dimensional design and drafting.
Coming to work at NFAC brought back memories Chaverri had of her first summer work experience, a job at the daycare center on the former Naval Air Station Moffett Field, which is adjacent to NASA Ames and NFAC. 

Part of her job involves retrieving, organizing and preserving all of the historic photographs of the sprawling facility. Looking at the pictures showing tests that have been conducted over the years, she said, "It's exciting what they do here - amazing." 

Jim Biggers, a senior NASA aeronautical scientist and consultant who has worked at the NFAC since the 1960s, said, "Ana really impresses me. She came here as a part-time student intern, learned our documentation system and became a very valuable worker, and then was hired full time. Ana has helped me get drawings and other documents. She's fast and accurate and has learned to operate the archiving software and the large printers for making drawings." 

Mike Graham, Jacobs Technology facility engineer at NFAC, said he's always admired Chaverri's attitude and work ethic. 

"Working with Ana is a pleasure, she is always available to discuss configuration management needs or how special arrangements can be made to accommodate the unique situations we find ourselves in here at the NFAC," he said. "She shows excellent initiative in pursuing her assigned duties and is diligent about pursuing items that require tracking and follow up, a great service to the facility group working on longer term projects." 

John Luu, NFAC's configuration manager, said considering that Chaverri had never worked in such a technically-oriented environment, "she quickly made herself productive and become a valuable asset to NFAC operations." 

"NFAC documentation is mainly categorized by system and sub-systems," he explained. "Ana understands the hierarchy, and that helps our user community to identify specific searched documents." 

He is also impressed with Chaverri's ability to juggle home, school and her job. 

"Ana is a grandma and single mother, I don't know how she has managed her schedule, but she's done it since she started working here, arriving to work at 6 every morning," he said. "Ana is a disciplinary type of mother and grandmother, I could hear her speaking to her children keeping them in line and teaching them the value of the money they earn." 

When she's not busy with school, work or her grandchildren, Chaverri loves to hit the road on her motorcycle - a Harley Davidson Sportster 883, her pride and joy. 

"I've loved motorcycles since I was a child," she said. "We used to live down the street from a big clubhouse and just watch all of these motorcycles come in by the hundreds. I always told myself that when my son gets in high school, I'll get a bike and so I did."