About
The California Institute of Technology’s decision to cease sales of cryogenic low noise amplifiers and QRFH feeds led directly to the formation of Cosmic Microwave Technology, Inc. Dr. Sander Weinreb, the head of the Caltech group, has licensed his designs to CMT so these high quality components, used for radio astronomy and quantum computing, can continue to be produced to Dr. Weinreb’s exacting standards. The technical aspects of CMT are headed by Stephen Smith while Denise Smith manages the business aspects of the company. CMT also brings Hector Navarrete from Caltech, where he will continue to assemble amplifiers and feeds to the rigorous standards required. Caltech has untied the services of MVI engineering, used for all of the high quality machining required to produce the amplifiers and feeds, so CMT plans to continue the relationship with MVI.
The CMT team at the 2023 IEEE-S International Microwave Symposium in San Diego.
Who We Are
Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith has been a designer of microwave hardware for 39 years, the last 7 of which were spent at Caltech as a research engineer under the direction of Dr. Sander Weinreb. His responsibilities included mentoring PHD and MS students, assisting with student-run experiments in the lab, managing the cryogenic amplifier production line, and designing cryogenic receivers for radio telescopes. Prior to Caltech, Stephen was the president of MMW Technology, Inc., which designed and built space qualified hardware for the Jet Propulsion Labs. Several current space missions are utilizing hardware that Stephen designed, more information is available on Stephen’s LinkedIn profile.
John Jure
Denise Smith
Ms. Denise L. Smith has an extensive background in behavioral sciences, and currently runs the day to day operations of Cosmic Microwave Technology.
Hector Navarrete
Hector Navarrete started his career at the age of 17 at MMW Technology where he learned engineering tech skills like soldering, reading blueprints and building radiometers. He joined Caltech as a research and engineering technician at the same time that Stephen accepted the engineering position. Hector has spent the last 7 years at Caltech building cryogenic amplifiers and assisting the students in building their projects, He brings his experience, and vast technical expertise, to CMT.
John Jure began his career as a technician in TRW’s Antenna Laboratory. In his career, John has worked as a mechanical technician on fusion projects (high-power physics applications lab) at the Energy Development Group. He has also worked on infrared detectors at the Santa Barbara Research Center and as a technician at the Microelectronics Center. Currently John performs micro soldering on circuit boards, performs room temperature testing, and develops procedures (with QA) for projects. He is responsible for QA on all shipments, and is the go-to QA technician at CMT.
Randy Martinez
Randy Martinez is a senior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of California, Riverside. He is a member of the Highlander Racing Drive-train Team. Randy’s experience is primarily in CAD/CAM software. At CMT, Randy conducts amplifier testing and documentation, in-house machining, and experimental and production amplifier mechanical layouts.
Karlygush Smith (Karly)
Karlygush Smith (Karly) graduated with her B.A. in Psychology in 2019 from University of California Riverside. She currently serves the role of billing specialist for CMT. Her role entails handling customer queries, invoicing and record keeping of financials for the company.