Gab at the Lab: Kurt Hondl

Kurt Hondl, MPAR Program Manager

Kurt-Hondl

Background:M.S. Meteorology, University of Oklahoma (1990)
B.S. Meteorology, University of North Dakota (1987)
Experience:Kurt hails from Dickinson, North Dakota, a small town in the southwestern part of the state near the North Dakota Badlands. He attended college at the University of North Dakota, a school of 15,000 on the border with Minnesota. After earning his bachelor’s degree in meteorology from UND, Kurt made the move to Oklahoma, where he received his Master’s at OU. Kurt was hired by OU’s Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies in 1990, and was a CIMMS employee for three years. In 1993, he was offered a position with the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and he has been with the Lab ever since. During his career with NSSL, he has worked on the Warning Decision Support System, the award-winning Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor project, and Multi-Function Phased Array Radar.
What He Does:Kurt is the MPAR Program Manager at NSSL. The Multi-Function Phased Array Radar project aims to demonstrate the potential for aircraft tracking, wind profiling, and weather surveillance performed by a single phased array radar. Multi-function radars could eventually replace aging aircraft traffic radars and weather radars, resulting in significant cost savings and more data for various federal agencies. MPAR’s adaptive scanning and rapid update capabilities for weather observations will also improve severe weather warning lead times. Kurt oversees the MPAR project, ensuring that funding is in place and that the program is on-schedule. Kurt frequently travels to give presentations on the project status and latest achievements, and he has published related work in several peer-reviewed journals.
Trivia: Kurt and his wife recently celebrated his stepson’s graduation from US Air Force Basic Training and he is now serving as a fireman for the Air National Guard. They have two dogs - Gabi, a Shih Poo, and Zoe, and Cockapoo. In his free time, he enjoys woodworking and building furniture. One of his biggest projects was building a bed frame entirely out of reclaimed barnwood!

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