COE Alum Modernizes GPS Technology
John Betz, ME’79, Ph.D’84 is Fellow of the MITRE Corporation, working in MITRE’s Center for Command and Control. Dr. Betz is involved in programs that develop and apply advanced technologies in communications, surveillance, navigation, and intelligence. He joined MITRE as a Group Leader, leading a team in the design, evaluation, and simulation of communications, sensing, and signal processing. Subsequently, he was promoted to Consulting Engineer, where he was responsible for the development and evaluation of advanced techniques, leading research and development activities funded by MITRE and by various government sponsors. Since 1997 he has worked primarily on developing advanced signals and receiver processing for the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs).
Since 2004, Dr. Betz has been a member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB),and since 2008 he has served as Chair of the SAB, leading 52 accomplished engineers and scientists selected from academia and industry who provide advice to U.S. Air Force senior leadership concerning science and technology. In 2001 and 2002, he was Chief Engineer of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Integration Systems Program Office at the Air Force Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base.
Dr. Betz led the team of scientists and engineers designing the modulation and acquisition of the M-code signal, the modernized military signal being transmitted from modernized GPS satellites in 1988. He also contributed to the design of the new GPS L1C civil signal, and was integral to the design of the Multiplexed BOC (MBOC) concept and the time-multiplexed BOC (TMBOC) spreading modulation used for L1C.
Dr. Betz was a lead technical member of the U.S. delegation in negotiations with the European Community concerning GPS and Galileo harmonization. He developed and assessed many candidate Galileo signal designs, and led development of technical annexes concerning radio frequency compatibility and national security compatibility that were part of the 2004 Agreement between the U.S. and European Community on GPS and Galileo. Since 2004, he has contributed to U.S.-European working groups addressing topics in compatibility and interoperability, and served as a U.S. member of similar working groups with Russia, China, India, and Japan.
From 1994 to 2000, Dr. Betz was an Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University and from 2005 to the present he has been an instructor for NavtechGPS, teaching short courses in North America and Europe on topics related to GNSS systems, signals, and receiver processing. He is a 2009 Fellow of the IEEE, and also a Fellow of the Institute of Navigation. For his role in the United States/European Union negotiations on GPS and Galileo, he received the U.S. State Department Superior Honor Award.
Dr. Betz received a B. S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 1976, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in 1984. He is co-inventor on four patents or patent applications, and has authored more than 50 publications including book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers.