Chuck Needham

I’m not your average engineer in Research—I’m the person who connects ideas, projects, and people, and builds the systems and processes that make them real. I take on the esoteric work others aren’t sure how to approach.

My responsibilities span across our building and infrastructure: everything from antennas on the roof and Studio99 operations to our team’s server environment and internal systems. As the Security Champion for our team, I help ensure our Azure environments and on‑prem infrastructure stay compliant, secure, and resilient.

I’ve built robotic video calibration systems, designed and deployed mobile science kiosks that traveled through Chicago, and engineered poisonous‑gas calibration systems. I’ve built hundreds of air‑pollution sensors—and the most meaningful work I’ve ever done has been partnering with people living with ALS to design hands‑free wheelchairs and accessible music‑creation systems.