Have you ever thought about how GPS works? Or how your phone always knows the correct time? You may know that satellites are involved, but keeping all those satellites functioning together requires incredibly precise timing. An atomic clock uses vibrations of atoms much like a grandfather clock uses a pendulum, only this pendulum swings nine billion times every second! And one of these clocks is right here in Boulder! This week we’re chatting with an atomic clock technician...a Time Lord, if you will...whose job is to keep that atomic clock ticking so you don’t miss your next important meeting.

Andrew Novick is a Denver-based artist, musician, director, photographer, collector, Casa Bonita connoisseur, and many other things...but he is also an electrical engineer in the Time & Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder (NIST). Andrew has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1992. He has worked at NIST in the Time and Frequency Division since he was a college freshman. He has published several papers in time metrology, including network timing and common-view satellite time comparisons. He works on real-time remote frequency and time calibrations and is in charge of the official United States web clock.