James Frank Smith

Staff Listing


James Frank Smith

Mechanical Engineer

GRAD / TTEA

Mailing Address:
NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory
325 Broadway R/GML1
Boulder CO 80305-3328

Phone: 720-335-5314‬
Email: james.frank.smith@noaa.gov

James Frank Smith

Frank Smith is a mechanical engineer working in a hybrid capacity to support both the GRAD and TTEA groups, since November 2022. He brings a multidisciplinary background having studied mechanical engineering in undergrad, and kinesiology and sport science in grad school. Some of his past accomplishments include the contribution-to and captaining of podium finishing SAE-Baja race teams at Tennessee Technological University. This is where he began polishing his team management, engineering, and metal fabrication skills. More recently, he spent several years working as a prototype-hardware design engineer in Nuclear Physics at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, supporting both experimentation and data collection.

Frank originally joined NOAA with the Observatory Operations Group, planning to deploy and staff the ARO Southpole Observatory in 2021-22. He later had the opportunity to transition to wildfire projects with the GRAD and TTEA divisions as the task-lead engineer and primary fabricator for the upcoming SMOLDER Wildfire Air Quality portable observatory. Frank, also functions as a design engineer with the CLAMPS Wildfire Weather portable observatory project, as well as contributes to miscellaneous projects throughout his supported groups.