Testimonials

There is no doubt John is the expert and he's got a great command of the material and delivery for people of all backgrounds. Any engineer working in DOD PNT programs should be required to attend this or a similar course.

I wanted a better understanding of how GPS, in addition to it's strengths and vulnerabilities, functions. This course thoroughly explains the fundamentals of GPS technology along with the science behind jamming, spoofing, and the pros and cons of countermeasures. Dr. Betz encouraged active participation, notably, allowing attendees to discuss course concepts as they relate to real-world GPS impications within a program office environment.

I really like how Dr. Betz explains the tough concepts in simple terms. It was effective and helped me understand all three segments, antenna, receivers and satellites, and how they interact with each other. Dr. Betz is the best! I will definitely recommend this course to my colleagues. This class is extremely helpful in doing my daily job.

As someone that is new to PNT, the course provided a basis of understanding on concepts and factors used in PNT. The formulas and calculations were a little over my head but allowed me to see the complexities of PNT which will allow me to grow in my knowledge base. Based on my level of knowledge, the course material was very thorough and useful

Knowing the basics of the receiver and how it receives the data from the satellite was good. Learning about the math behind the receiver is awesome. Being a simulator engineer/tech, learning about TSP and spoofing when it comes to CRPA and FRPA is great. The course exceeds my expectations.

I think the course was effective in helping me understand the most complex aspects of the technology. Also, it helped me to see some topics from a different perspective, providing excellent food for thought.

My main objectives were to learn general GNSS topics and definitions. It completely met my expectations. The quality of the instructor and material was, in my opinion, excellent.

Chris has some really great analogies for complex parts of GNSS. I also appreciated him asking questions that facilitate engagement.

I have been working with GNSS receivers for several months now, but the course really helped me gain a deeper understanding of code-based vs carrier-based measurements. I also found the analysis of how different aspects of a GNSS receiver influence accuracy to be especially useful.

I was very pleased with the instructor's teaching style. Dr. Hegarty was very organized and handled all questions completely. The class was only four days and it covered everything I was interested in to the appropriate detail. If anything, slightly more coverage of non-GPS constellations as our work at Samsung involves. 

There were not technical "hiccups" or anything like that over the course of four days. Mr. Boynton moderated and helped keep things perfectly on schedule.

Dr. Hegarty is really good and I like his teaching style. His style was very effective. Good balance between theory and math. Solid understanding of the GPS system and its vulnerabilities.

Michael is very well-versed and knowledgeable in the field of navigation, and his decades-long experience shows up in his presentation of the topic. I liked that he is able to zoom straight into the crux and motivation of the various GPS/INS techniques as well as share candidly on the practical implementation details. The Matlab examples and codes provided definitely helped in my learning.

Mike is an energetic lecturer and his many real-life examples were interesting and informative. The discussion on the different types of Kalman filters, how they differ from each other, pros and cons, and of course the sample Matlab code should prove extremely useful.

Dr. Pue's lectures were effective in helping me to understand the material. He did a good job of customizing the lecture for the audience based on the questions he was receiving. I can't recommend this excellent course enough to my colleagues who work with Inertial Navigation Systems.  

Dr. Pue's teaching style is excellent. His ability to explain complex concepts by relating to real-life examples was very effective.

Both instructors were very knowledgeable and had great presence. The excitement on the topics of each instructor was very evident and made it easier for me to stay engaged.

It was very engaging and helped me learn topics that could have been tough to understand otherwise…Everything seemed relevant to our line of work.

I liked the teaching style - good use of time and schedule structuring, good balance of real life examples, and definitely benefitted from the knowledge and experience of the instructor.

Dr. Betz's teaching style kept me engaged the entire time. His knowledge, mannerisms, tone…everything kept the class interesting. It was truly a pleasure to have been a part of his class. All folks that deal with GPS signals and jamming should attend this course.

My main objectives were to gain better knowledge on jamming in general as well as gain knowledge in the different types of bands. The course exceeded my expectations. I would recommend this to any new hires to take within two years of starting.

This course did an excellent job at meeting objectives. Dr. Betz went above and beyond in providing professional guidance and specific calculations to find end result solutions.

The teaching style was excellent! Well presented from an engineering perspective, also high enough level for a non-engineer who is math knowledgable. Really liked how Chris introduced live scenarios and how theory is applied to actual equipment.

The course met all of my objectives. The emphasis placed on alternate GNSS systems and carrier phase techniques was extremely helpful having not had formal training in years.

I would definitely recommend this course to any of my colleagues in the navigation areas!

The teaching style was very good. Dr. Hegarty was very effective at taking a massive amount of information and presenting it in a clear and well-paced manner even with the challenge of the virtual format.

It is easy to tell that this course is taught by passionate instructors, and that comes through both in their mastery of the subject material, and enthusiasm in presenting the subject matter in a concise and easy-to-follow manner. Despite the difficulty of the material, this course is one of the most well-taught courses I've had the pleasure of taking. I urge both of the instructors to keep teaching, as an instructor's passion is instrumental in a student's absorption of material. Needless to say, they both have passion in spades.

Dr. Betz teaching style is engaging and he encourages class participation versus a monologue. Dr. Betz also makes a point to review previous material before presenting new material so the student has the opportunity to close any gaps on understanding any of the material.

My objectives were "to learn more about GPS in general, jamming, receiver's performance measures like C/No and J/S. Yes, the course met the objectives more than expected."

Quality of all course initiatives were great. Schedule, instructor/attendee interaction, and user friendliness were all great.

Very effective class and I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end.

I am an electrical engineer who has recently started a new job in the GPS world and was looking for a course to learn GPS fundamentals to be quickly brought up to speed. My objectives were exceeded because Dr. Hegarty did a fantastic job explaining GPS fundamentals with lots of nods at electrical engineers, but most importantly, shared his invaluable practical knowledge from 30 years working in this field!

Chris is very clear in explaining topics at hand and allows for questions when things are unclear. Even in this digital form it was an interactive course.

The teaching style was very good, it was easy to follow the class even for non-native English speakers.

Some of the different Kalman filtering techniques, such as the fixed point filter can be put to use in our work.  The MATLAB navigator/Kalman filter examples are very useful. 

Yes, I really found Chris to be very engaging, even through the remote sessions. His knowledge and charisma made the sessions both lively and informative.

I came out of the course with a good understanding of GPS history, signal structure, and receivers. As a new engineer that is also new to GNSS, I will benefit a lot from the complete coverage of the fundamentals of GNSS as it gave me a good foundation to keep on learning. I received the most value from the book of notes since I know I will be referencing it for many years to come.

Everything was great and Webex was very easy to use.

I think Dr. Hegarty was definitively one of the best teachers I've had in my career. Not only he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the domain but he is an excellent teacher on top of it. Would have loved to have had him as a teacher back at university.

Instructors were awesome, very responsive and personable, very conversational.

This was not sold to me as an introduction course but John was able to explain things simply and I was brought up to speed surprisingly quickly.

You can tell Dr. Betz is an expert by how he can simplify advanced subjects so he we can understand, especially what goes on inside receivers in presence of jamming.  I would recommend this course to all navigation and weapons engineers. 

Dr. Betz provided many realistic examples and was very knowledgeable in the subject matter.  I especially benefited from learning the differences in acquitting C/A P/(Y) and M code GPS, i.e. cold/warm/hot starts  I would recommend this course to any colleague interested in GPS signals.  Awesome course.

Dr. Betz is an expert who made many complex factors associated with nav testing very understandable. In particular, I got additional ideas on how to plan for user equipment testing and planning regarding jamming/testing.  Excellent course.  Thank you.

The instructor was one of the best instructors of any short course I’ve ever had.  It is hard to narrow down one or two important aspects of the course, but signal strength and how to characterize through space was my biggest objective.  If we’d had more time all of the topics could be expanded by Dr. Betz, as he is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced.

I’m not an EE so I’m slower than most of the class, but I was able to understand most concepts which is a sign of a good teacher!  I’ll be able to understand how to set up a good jamming text and be able to understand the results and be able to know what are good/bad/can’t believe results.

Can't speak highly enough. He was engaging and taught the course like a veteran IMU designer teaching novices what to do when they design their own IMU. Do this trick of the trade. Watch out for that pitfall. Be explicit with your vector notation. All of those things Vaujin did and I felt were immensely helpful.

My main objectives were to learn the aspects of and how to implement modern navigation algorithms. The course definitely met those objectives.

I have recently become interested in learning about strapdown navigation. My objective was to increase my exposure to the topic and gain a more solid overview.  This course met and exceeded my objectives

My goal for the course taught by Dr. Alan Pue was to understand how IMUs were integrated into the Kalman filter. The second day’s lecture way very helpful for that purpose.

The video quality was excellent; I am very pleased with the WebEx platform. I don't feel as though going through the course remotely had any negative impact. It was still very personal, easy to ask questions, and I enjoyed the banter over coffee in the morning even if we were all scattered across the world. Mr. Boynton, Ms. McDonald, and Dr. Hegarty were so friendly and welcoming. This was such a great experience.

I was most excited to learn about GPS receivers and antennas. I really didn't know much about GPS hardware before this course. Dr. Hegarty walked us through each component of a receiver and antenna, and I feel it was very beneficial to understand the GPS algorithm as it relates to physical components.

The scheduling was perfect, very nice that we could join from Europe. Also the amount of material and number and interval of breaks was well thought of. Thank you for the useful and interesting course!

A/V quality was very good. I also thought the interaction between everyone went smoothly. WebEx was very simple to use (both logging in and navigating the interface during the lessons).

A/V quality, instructor/attendee interaction, course schedule, and user friendliness were great.

Very pleasant teaching style. Very effective.

I think all parties did a great job with the virtual presentation.

I thought this course was adapted to our new work reality extremely well.

Learning the terms and how they play a role in GPS and how equipment processes GPS signals [was useful to my work]. The 2-day course discussed many of the terms I deal with in my job.

[My main objective was to] gain a basic understanding of navigation systems; this course exceeded this expectation with a lot of very in-depth information.

I found everything to be useful. The review of filtering concepts was a great refresher and filled several holes in my knowledge. I've not done any GPS work before, so learning about how to integrate them into a navigation system was imminently practical.

My primary objective was to gain an understanding of the physics behind inertial navigation systems as well as learn how to build a robust Kalman Filter and implement it. I did learn what I wanted to from this course.

Understanding basic terminology is helpful for me just because I don't work with Nav analysis daily. I'm about to start doing more on the Nav team and I think I have a good understanding of how to handle errors and not blindly use current Kalman Filter functions here.

[My main objectives were to] increase new hires in our branch knowledge and awareness of Inertial Navigation and Kalman Filters. Goals were definitely met.

I've been writing Kalman Filters for many different types of systems for many years. I was hoping to fill in some gaps in the mathmatical theory, and did.

Dr. Pue kept in interesting. It's easy to doze off in these type, but he kept it interesting.

I've filled in the math behind the Kalman Filter which will help me understand some of the finer points.

[The knowledge I acquired was] too much to list: IMU mechanism function, limitations, and considerations of navigation output from a Kalman filter, implementation strengths and weaknesses, when to correlate errors.

I appreciate the clear nomenclature definitions up front. This area has the potential to waste a lot of time if handled poorly. It was handled excellently in this course.

Absolutely anyone who employs or processes navigation data should take this course to understand how navigation assumptions/limitations/strengths propagate into downstream systems.

My main objective was to work through the limitation and design considerations inherent to a well-built Kalman Filter so as to both better understand existing models' strengths/limitations and employ/know when to employ an effective Kalman Filter in the future. This course laid out the exact details I was hoping to find.

I did like the teaching style of the instructor [Dr. Alan Pue]. He went through each part of his lectures in small increments so that I could understand them more easily. One of the biggest things about his style that I liked compared to many other professors was the lack of elitist attitude, which normally masks an inability to teach.

My main objective was to actually gain an understanding of where the Kalman Filter comes from, what each part of it means, and how to compute each part. My goals have definitely been met.

Course 541 is really a course that needs to be attended by experienced engineers. Many experienced engineers should not underestimate what they would learn from key GNSS experts like Dr. John Betz.

The in-depth understanding of the effects of interference of GNSS signals and how they impact various parts of the receiver will help me design "Robust GNSS" receivers.

Dr. John Betz explained topics very well throughout the course. He is willing to explain things over again until the student underrstands.

I learned how to understand the structure of the new signals that will help me design code to take benefit of the good features.

[I learned] code tracking and corner tracking techniques, signal characteristics of different GNSS constellations, for multi-constellation receivers: link budgets, error sources, and characterization.

I developed a higher level understanding about what satnav is, the details behind how it works and what characteristics impact how I test my system.

I learned about topics that will be helpful in calculating/understanding satnav closure rates during AR testing. I also gained a fundamental understanding of satnav. This was not sold to me as an introductory course , but John [Betz] was able to explain things simply and I was brought up to speed surprisingly quickly.

The switching between math and application was well done to keep interest.

The end-to-end examples in 335 were extremely helpful and the topics leading up to them were set up well. I would recommend this course to our instrumentation engineers that work with the jammers, design and build them.

Course 335 is excellent for analysts and test managers. To gain an understanding of why things are done in a test and understanding when talking to analysts/interpreting results.

I recommend this course to any person involved in analysis.

I DEFINITELY recommend Course 335. It outlines much of what we do in our organization and how it impacts the world around us. Presents ideas of how to continue in an ever-changing technological world.

I am still incredibly new to the subject so I came in fairly blind, but I feel that the course was still excellent and gave me a great breadth of info from which I can now work forward.

I learned J/S versus TJP; best ways to stress ADAPs; best wave forms to stress receivers.

Dr. Betz was absolutely effective with well organized notes, good use of examples, nice balance between explaining different levels of materials.

I appreciate the style of instruction Dr. Betz brings to the classroom. Very clear and easy to understand, willing to answer any questions and review class concepts or other concepts to establish foundation needed to understand class material. Dr. Betz presented a foundation of what the jamming side of the 746th Test Squadron works with and needs to understand in order to develop tests of devices under different types and conditions of jamming.

“I came into the course with only basic GPS knowledge. The course provided a wealth of information and appreciation of GPS technology. The course exceeded expectations.”

“Terrific course. A great deal of information and details.”

“My main objective was to gain a better understanding about the GPS system as a whole. The course met my objective and having the course content in hard/soft copy is a great bonus!”

“I am now much more knowledgeable on how the entire system works and why it works the way it does.”

Dr. Hegarty presented in a way understood by all attendees. [He] kept us engaged with course materials pointing out how it relates to NAVCEN. Presenting questions to the group allows us to participate in conversation, further clarifying topics.”

“[My goal was to] learn the basics of GPS in order to understand the terminology and background during conversations and briefs. The course met these objectives very well.”

“The instructor gave enough technical details without losing the non-technical audience. I also found the instructor’s wit and humor very effective. Well done!”

The instructor [Dr. Heppe] was very informative. He provided real world examples as well as anecdotes from his past research which helped put perspective to some of the point he tried to make.

I liked the overall flow and design of the course, especially because I was trying to take the full 4-day [course]. I feel we touched pretty much all major points.

[My main objective was to] get familiar with the most important performances of GNSS, but available nowadays and in the new future. Fully met! [I would] definitely, yes [recommend this course] in all areas, in particular areas in which technical knowledge details do matter.

I am extremely happy to have learned new things regarding the existing signals, the modulations and how a receiver works. I would recommend this course to surveyors, electrical engineers and to anyone that is using GNSS in its work.

The instructor was great, able to answer any question and kept the attention of the audience always alive.

[The teaching style of the instructor was] very good in that the lecture was based on dialog rather than monolog.

The teaching style of Dr. Christopher Hegarty was quite remarkable.

Especially useful were the aspects related to how the user receivers make use of the GNSS signals and all the steps involved in the process, from receiving the raw RF signal to the computation of the user position.

The instructor's [Dr. Hegarty] knowledge of the subject is very impressive. He gave a lot of interesting information on top of what was posted on the slides. I would consider this extra information very helpful. I now have quite an in-depth knowledge of how GPS works. I can definitely relate the working concepts to the technology I handle at work and to make better decisions.

As a mechanical engineer, I regretfully, don't have all the electrical background to understand all the concepts, but the material is well presented and expertly explained to allow me to follow the info.

This was a very high-quality course. Much better and more informative than what I was expecting. The subject matter expertly [Dr. Hegarty] had incredible knowledge and was entertaining to listen to. Also great reference materials.

I have appreciated the continuous link made between equations, concrete content and order of magnitude of key figures.

I learned the fundamental basis of how GNSS receiver works and what it needs to provide reliable information.

Very disciplined, well organized, extremely competent.

Dr. Hegarty really connected with us and was open to all our questions, answering in a very clear and understandable way.

There are many bright scientists and engineers, but very few are bright and gifted in teaching. Even fewer could explain each part of a very complex equation in simple layman’s term. Dr. Hegarty got my full attention. I would highly recommend this course to my peers if Dr. Hegarty were teaching it.

Really great, not a wasted word. He [Dr. Hegarty] really knows his stuff and answered all questions in great detail.

I work in product support and wanted a more technical background on GPS. I wanted to learn more about interference and scintillation. This definitely met my objectives. I would recommend this to anyone looking to better understand GPS.

For aviation and military applications, especially being a new engineer in the field, this class formed a base from which to learn more in-depth knowledge as well as to contribute to aircraft design improvement as GPS continues to evolve and advance.

Dr. Hegarty explained everything in a very easy to understand manner without dwelling on topics too long. His teaching style was very effective. His demeanor made it comfortable to ask several questions without feeling intimidated.

My main objective was to solidify the on the job training I’ve had thus far as a navigation engineer with my company. The instruction under course 346 met that main objective and exceeded it by expanding my knowledge of global positioning systems, DGPS, and Kalman filtering. For aviation and military applications, especially being a new engineer in the field, this class formed a base from which to learn more in-depth knowledge as well as to contribute to aircraft design improvement as GPS continues to evolve and advance.

The instructor is excellent. Dr. Hegarty is a very good presenter [who] shows a deep knowledge and a passion and active way of presenting.

The course is useful for any professionals who have to know the GPS system design and its basics.

“[My goal was] to become more knowledgeable in GPS processing and errors. My objectives were met. I will be able to incorporate much more detail in the GPS class that I teach.”

“Yes! Dr. Hegarty is extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in the material. Well prepared and well designed course and material! Course material was well organized with accompanying slides – nice notebook!”

“My main objective was to try to understand how GPS works. This objective has been met! Additionally, an incredible amount of good GPS info has been provided, including a very nice textbook!”

“The knowledge I acquired during this course will allow me to support the fleet in the field of navigation (aircraft). I still have a lot to know and learn but this course, as well as the material provided (books), will allow me to acquire what I need.”

“Dr. Hegarty demonstrated that he is an excellent teacher. His style was great, his knowledge about the topics was excellent and his behavior during the class was outstanding. I am grateful to be able to take this course and happy about the knowledge I acquired.”

“My objective in taking this class was to have the basics of GPS and the technology behind it. Before the class the only[thing] I knew about GPS was how to use my automobile version. This class showed me the amazing technology behind it. In summary, this course provided me what I needed.”

“I acquired a better understanding on WAAS, current freq. use/future freq. use, and the SV of the control segment.”

“I thought Dr. Hegarty did a great job keeping the class engaged. He was clear and stopped to explain as necessary.”

“My main objective was to get a broad insight into how GPS worked and the different types of systems. My expectations were met.”

“[I gained an understanding of] how pseudo range measurements are sent from the SV and computed in the receiver; understanding how the antenna gain can be optimized; understanding SV messages, signals, data formats…all of this additional knowledge will help me in data processing/reduction for navigation flights.”

“My main objective was to gain training to help me better understand GPS operations to benefit the flight testing I conduct on navigation systems for multiple Navy platforms. This course has exceeded my expectations. The subject matter was well-rounded to include fundamentals as well as the more complex concepts of GPS.”

“I’ve gained a good understanding of how GPSs operate and appreciate so much, the technology.”

“I liked the teaching style of the instructor. Dr. Hegarty used many analogies along with his lectures. It was effective in helping me to learn. I’m very impressed with Dr. Hegarty’s vast knowledge of the GPS subject. Dr. Hegarty is awesome!”

“My objectives were to learn the fundamentals of GPS operation, principles, and technology. Yes, the course met my objectives.”

“Dr. Hegarty was outstanding and very helpful. His teaching style allowed me to keep pace with the amount of material presented in the allotted time.”

“Yes, I gained a better understanding of GPS and apply that knowledge towards flight testing.”

Dr. Heppe was fantastic! Obviously an expert in his field, used analogies that helped a new-comer like me. His passion and excitement for the topic is contagious! Absolutely! [would recommend this course to colleagues] For general exposure, in-depth explanation on GPS topics – it’s a barrage of information, but I think anyone in avionics test could benefit from it. I had a great time and learned a lot over the 4 days!

I wanted to learn more about the GPS message format, signals, receivers and how the data from the Sats [satellites] allowed GPS receivers to acquire and track. This course met my expectations. I learned a great deal about the ephemeris data and how the receiver uses this data.

My main objective was to get a technical overview of GPS. The course met my expectations. The instructor [Dr. Stephen Heppe] was excellent and the charts will be useful as a future reference.

I thought the instructor [Dr. Stephen Heppe] was very informative and knowledgeable and fully answered any questions that were brought up. This is a very thorough course for anyone looking to develop GPS receivers or want a better understanding of what happens inside the GPS receivers.

My employment position entails interfacing with customers and program offices that use GPS in the systems we test. All of the material in this course is beneficial for my understanding of these systems to better allocate resources for testing. The class material maximized useful content in a 4-day course. The teacher [Dr. Chris Hegarty] was wonderful and very useful and Mrs. McDonald was a joy to interface with.

I have been working with GPS since 1976 and still learned a lot from this course.

The understanding of the limitations and errors of GPS would be extremely important to anyone in GPS nav, antenna, design, post-processing, etc. The instructor [Dr. Chris Hegarty] did a good job of catering his examples and discussions to this audience, which makes the concepts easier to relate.

I work with landing systems mainly on carriers, so knowing how the signals work is useful, as well as what effects signals, how to improve them, and jamming effects limitations. I would recommend this course to those who have any part in any system dealing with signals or navigation especially.

I liked the instructor's conversational style. I enjoyed his explanations and answers to detailed and involved questions. It was very obvious that he [Dr. Heppe] is a subject matter expert on the topic of GPS.

Dr. Heppe added a lot to the material and really helped add value to the class. Excellent job by Dr. Heppe. The class was very enjoyable.

The instructor was engaging. Slide presentation couple with "text book" aided the learning process. Examples were beneficial, but interesting and relevant.

I would recommend this course for both those who have a communication background and those that don't. The instructors explanations were easy to understand for both parties. Specifically, I would highly recommend the communications overview (i.e., the more technical portions).

My objective was two-fold. (1) Refresh my knowledge of communication systems and (2) Learn how communications technology is used within GPS. Dr. Hegarty's course gave an excellent in-depth overview of communication systems and provided all the details to understand how GPS works. I loved this course and believe it met all my objectives. Thank you!

Mainly everything learned will be applicable to work. [I] work with GPS everyday, and since being just out of college, it has been hard trying to grasp everything . This course has been great in providing me with a foundation of GPS so can better understand what I'm working on.

The course helped fill in the gaps in my knowledge that inevitably formed from only learning on my own.

[My main objectives were] to solidify my end-to-end understanding of GNSS for installing and optimizing a new network of permanent GNSS stations.

The mixture of theory, technology and application made it easier to absorb hard math and appreciate the technology. My technical understanding of the system, signal and technologies (receiver, etc.) is greatly improved. I will now feel comfortable discussing technical issue with experts in the field.

I really appreciate the instructor's [Dr. Hegarty's] charts and the distributed charts (printed and USB/CD) all being up to date. Far too often with/ classes from other vendors, students have very different chart decks from the instructor.

I would recommend this course to anyone who needs to learn about GPS for their job. Anyone who wants to develop a skill set in the navigation segment of guidance, navigation, and control (GNC)

My technical understanding of the system signal and technologies is greatly improved. I will now feel comfortable discussing technical issues with experts in the field.

[Dr. Hegarty's] style was excellent! His mixture of theory and application made it easy to absorb the hard math and appreciate the technology.

Beyond the actual course material, the management and organization of the course was extremely well done. The location especially was amazing and made it a very comfortable and fun week.

Dr. Hegarty was excellent. His wealth of knowledge and experience was very apparent. He did a great job breaking down complex concepts and ensuring the class had a good understanding before moving on. Also, his humor helped lighten the class material and kept everyone engaged!

Definitely opened my eyes to the amount of info out there, will immediately apply to work.

As a non-tech/non-engineer, I was concerned about attending a class of engineers and technical professionals, Dr. Hegarty was able to take some difficult subject material and help me stay connected to the material. He was able to go deeper when answering deeper questions. He also drew us in with questions-not just lecture but asking us about what he said. Had a calm excitement about GPS/GNSS.

[Dr. Chris Hegarty] is extremely knowledgeable and his jokes and board examples really helped.

Yes, the fall course is recommended for any new entrant into the field and provides a good review for seasoned veterans.

Dr. Hegarty has expertly structured this course to not just inform, but also make reasonable allowances for students, so as to not overburden them with excessive information. He knew just where to tailor the most-complex math-heavy concepts and balance them appropriately with the lighter, but no less important concepts. This made for a class that never felt dry, boring, or tedious, even to a non-technical person. I was engaged throughout, even if I ended up a bit lost in equations at times.

As the only student without a technical and/or intelligence background, my goal for the course was to better orient myself to technical understanding of GNSS and general navigation principles. The course very much met my objectives; the introductory and non-math-intensive segments were particularly beneficial.

I thought [Dr. Hegarty] had a great teaching style, was funny and had just the right amount of slides. [Dr. Hegarty] was very good at explaining very technical things in a way that made sense to someone with very little signals / communications background.

Dr. Hegarty is very knowledgeable and he is a great communicator. He explained conceptual and theoretical topics clearly. He was very accessible in answering questions. He did an excellent job engaging the students in the learning experience.

[My objective was to] gain a better understanding of GPS operating principles with a focus on error sources and differential GPS. I thought [Dr. Hegarty’s] teaching style was excellent. He specifically tailored his approach to the small classroom environment with significant student interaction: True teaching versus lecturing. [I would recommend this course to] system engineers requiring more than a black box knowledge of GPS.

This was a focused and clear presentation; repeat of the questions asked really helped (especially from remote attendees). (There were) a great deal of course notes, an ability to provide direct/crisp answers, but not enough time to dwell on some topics.

[Dr. Betz's teaching styles was] excellent. He is patient, dynamic and clear.

Dr. Betz was concise and clear with his explanations on concepts, especially on the simplification of complex equations by lumping certain equations to concepts.

Yes, [I would recommend this course] especially for those who are working on software receiver design and signal and waveform design.

[My main objective was to] learn about the new systems and signals and how to optimally combine them in the receiver.

“Dr. John Betz’ Course 541 on advanced GNSS signals and systems has been very helpful, especially when implementing algorithms to support newer constellations. I took this course in September 2013, and it was immediately useful upon my return to work. Also, the course notes have been a reference that I value highly and refer to frequently.”

This was a very good introduction to the different Kalman filter architectures available. While very fast paced, I feel I got a lot out of this class. Mike is a great instructor. Mike is very detail focused and I loved the fact that he provided MATLAB examples for his lectures.

The two instructor approach worked well, since I got to see some material presented two different ways. The styles are complementary between Alan and Mike. Mike has a lot of passion for the subject, and he brings a lot of practical knowledge and tips. The MATLAB scripts were very helpful.

"The objective I [wanted to] reach with this course was a deep knowledge about GPS and INS integration through Kalman filtering. The objective has been met, and I also appreciated all the concrete examples treated, especially in the last two days. I would definitely recommend this course to any colleague dealing with GNSS/INS integration."

"My objective was to refine my knowledge of INS/GPS integration. The course perfectly met this objective. The instructors were very good. I would recommend this high quality course."

Mike Vaujin’s teaching style was effective and informative. This course has been very helpful to me for fulfilling my next project goals … highly recommended.

[The course] exceeded my expectations!! I often spend many hours reading through technical papers trying to understand one small concept. This course was an excellent balance between broad concepts and useful depth.

I will be able to apply the multi-model adaptive estimation to cycle slip problem immediately: tomorrow (or Monday).

Yes! [I would recommend this course.] This course will be helpful not only for the area of navigation, but also any area which needs filter theory.

Absolutely, yes [I would recommend this course]. Mr. Vaujin builds a solid foundation for a student to understand the Kalman filter algorithms in order for them to advance their knowledge on their own with confidence and competence.

Mr. Vaujin’s teaching style is very good, and it is complemented by his extensive experience and current work in the industry.

I liked the amount of content covered and I was impressed how knowledgeable Dr. Alan Pue was. I found the explanations of transfer alignment and multi-sensor integration to be very logical and clear. My understanding of these topics is vital to my contributions on a current project.

[My main objective was to] better understand transfer alignment and the theoretical construct of a tightly coupled GPS/INS Kalman filter. It definitely met my objectives.

This course would be almost impossible to replicate at a university without taking several courses that would only comment on the subject. Having it all in one place over [a few] days is well worth the money.

[My main objective was to] learn the inner workings of the Kalman filter and get a feel for the term (derivation) of the filters. This goal was met.

My main objective was to familiarize myself with the basic concepts of inertial navigation and learn the challenges of integration of INS and GPS. The course has met them. I feel empowered by the material and the knowledge that the instructor transferred to us. Mr. Vaujin builds a solid foundation for a student to understand the Kalman filter algorithms in order for them to advance their knowledge on their own with confidence and competence.

I would recommend [this course] to anyone who would like to gain an insight into INS. Dr. Pue gradually builds your knowledge base and offers detailed explanations and a lot of practical solutions.

[Mr. Mike Vaujin] with his theoretical and practical experience has made this complex navigation problem [in]to an understandable and interesting subject.

This is the best training course for the INS/GPS/Kalman modeling. [Dr. Pue] makes this well-known complex problem to be an understandable subject. Highly recommend to navigation flight test engineers to obtain mathematics/physics support for these models.

I very much so like the teaching style of the instructor [Dr. Pue]. I felt the pace and level of complexity were perfect.

Yes, the course met my objective (far and beyond!). Excellent teaching style. In regards to Mr. Vaujin, his examples really drive the material home.

[My objective was] an understanding of new signals and how they will effect current and planned systems. Both [Dr. John Betz and Dr. James Sennott] are very knowledgeable and effective instructors. I always recommend NavtechGPS as the first source of GPS training.

[My main objective was to] increase my understanding of GPS or GNSS. The highly technical teaching style [of Dr. Betz] is effective and somewhat easy to understand. All of my colleagues need this course to understand many aspects of GPS

I wish I had this course 30+ years ago. Signal structures, particularly facts about other GNSS, provided seeds of thought about future projects.

Main objectives: To learn more about GPS/GNSS receiver algorithms. To learn more about GNSS signals. The course met and exceeded my objectives. I especially like the review questions. I also like the real-world examples and anecdotes from Dr. Betz’s experience developing real systems.

Yes [I would recommend this class], across the board, GNSS is important for our program management partners to understand as the multi-GNSS signals may be included in future Army receivers. Also important for our OSD M&S efforts to understand how multi-GNSS can augment as a trusted signal.

He [Dr. John Betz] had a very methodical and logical way to present the material and build on it. It was very effective. He took questions well and answered them thoroughly and encouraged questions. Understanding the trade-offs that Dr. Betz presented in an elegant way helps us decipher when and how to use the different parameters for receiver design and signal processing and which techniques to use.

I thought the style was exceptional. The instructor [Dr. John Betz] had an intuitive grasp of the concepts and emphasized transferring this intuition to students.

Fairly new to GPS; was hoping the course would provide overview of signal constellations and receiver processing. The course met and exceeded expectations.

Pace of class was perfect. [Dr. Betz] kept the class interesting.

Excellent style and pace – good balance between analysis and qualitative description. Knowledge of international collaboration of different satnav systems was insightful.

[I acquired] lots of understanding for engineering trades when implementing new signals that will be useful when implementing them. I just want to reiterate how impressed I was with the content and delivery of this class.
The notes are also good enough to be a valuable stand-alone resource.

The teaching [style] was great. [Dr. Betz] had an excellent balance between developing intuition and backing it up with detailed theology.

I wanted to have a greater understanding of detailed performance characteristics/tradeoffs. I also wanted to see more detail about the modernized/foreign signals. The course exceeded all expectations.

Dr. Betz did a fantastic job teaching this course. He has so much knowledge of everything discussed and is able to show mathematical derivations on the fly. It was a very informative course – approachable for a newbie but still containing new information for a veteran.

Since I'm responsible for integrating GPS based nav., surveillance, safety, etc., capabilities into aircraft, it was especially helpful to see the GPS basics built from the ground up with about as much detail as I could tolerate. I particularly enjoyed the occasional snippets and anecdotes involving international/political intrigue.

[My objective was] to see uses, enhancements and overall applications utilizing GPS signals and systems … . I think the course was very well balanced.

As he [Mr. Vaujin] highlighted the first day, the combination of lecture and MATLAB examples provide a great vehicle to teach this complex subject.

Yes, [I would recommend this course to] any other junior engineers who, like myself, may have been briefly exposed to the Kalman filters and INS, but may not have had much formal explanation on how to integrate them.

The company I work for makes GNSS aided inertial navigation products, therefore, having an understanding of major concepts is essential. The course definitely helped.

I wanted to become more familiar with inertial navigation and the data fusion methods. The class fully met my needs and expectations. I would recommend the course to my colleagues working in tracking and navigation, particularly those doing counter-fire radar work.

I found the lecturer [Dr. Alan Pue] to have struck just the right blend of informality and academic rigor. I came into the course with a basic background in GPS and a “black box” knowledge of IMUs and Kalman filtration. I can confidently say that my knowledge of these subjects has been markedly increased.

I found Mr. Vaujin’s lecture style to be concise and efficient without being overly terse. He was able to relay a great deal of information, clearly, in a relatively short period of time. I definitely felt that I got my money’s worth from this course.

The teaching style had a mix of theory and implementation. It was very apt and his [Mr. Mike Vaujin] energy was really infectious. I learned many new things, but also enjoyed the beautiful variations of what I knew already.

My objectives were to learn implementation tips. Mr. Vaujin gave some great advice and told us many pitfalls to watch for. The course is very useful for practical engineers.

I liked the teaching style a lot, but the material is inherently challenging. He [Dr. Pue] told us how it is done in reality without departing from the main parts of the system and that was awesome.

My main objectives were to understand how to model tilt errors in INS. I was also intent on figuring out the Schuler correction. This course really enhanced my INS design abilities by meeting these objectives.

Dr. Pue was very detailed in his explanations of the topics covered. The material he was covering wasn’t necessarily all that exciting, but his hands-on teaching style and knowledge of the material kept you engaged throughout.

All three instructors [Pue, Vaujin, Sennott] were able to keep my attention, even through all the detailed derivations. The mixture of having lectures and hands-on coding was useful.

Having a background in GPS and control theory, I was coming in looking to learn about the non-linear Kalman filters. The MATLAB® code provided a handy resource. I learned what I wanted to.

I’m a control systems engineer, so my goal was to gain some high level familiarity with guidance/nav concepts related to INS/Kalman filtering/sensor fusion. These objectives were met and exceeded.

The instructor explained everything clearly and was very knowledgeable about the subject. [I acquired a] better understanding of inertial navigation algorithms and Kalman filter design. Everything that was presented was very useful. Course was very well thought out and concise. I would definitely recommend this course to navigation engineers and anyone who wants to know more about navigation and Kalman filtering.

I learned about fixed interval KF [Kalman Filter] configuration and psi-angle INS. I especially liked the information about navigator MATLAB® code, it will help me to jump start my own simulation. The covariance analysis is very helpful too.

I learned different types of Kalman filters and how to apply UKFs to nonlinear systems. I think it was also useful to have a complete copy of everything that goes into a navigation system.

“[My objective was to be] introduced to the world of EKF and learn to design items. I think the course was useful and definitely a great way to start.”

“[The course] was all very relevant to my work. Walking through the strapdown equations in the wander azimuth frame helped give a clear understanding of algorithms I work with daily!”

“My main objective was a refresher in navigation theory and application. Yes the objective was met.”

It was helpful to see all the practical examples in MATLAB. General discussion on EKF implementation and possible numerical instabilities was helpful. Error budget analysis is a great design tool. Also enjoyed the brief intro to more advanced topics like Kalman filters and UKFs.

Mr. Vaujin’s] approach was a great complement to [Dr. Pue’s] and created a new sense of excitement for the second half of the course. It was helpful to see all the practical examples in MATLAB®.

GNSS velocity aiding and Schuler oscillation were really interesting. That could help me in the issues that I need to overcome in work

At first, I only expected to sharpen my skills in designing an SKF. This expectation has been fully met. In addition to this, my understanding of strapdown mechanisms and INS/GPS integration has also been greatly enhanced.

[Dr. Alan Pue] is clearly an expert in his field, and has a talent for communicating.

Re Mr. Vaujin: This is the first time I learned to appreciate the subtle aspects of how to perform feedback from a psi-angle navigator to the strapdown processor.

As a practicing engineer in integrated navigation, I came to the class to explore the boundaries of my knowledge. The course greatly exceeded my expectations. Mr. Vaujin's mastery of each topic helped me to synthesize prior knowledge and attain new fundamental understanding of the psi and phi navigators.

Re: both Dr. Pue and Mr. Vaujin: This is probably the best, most information packed seminar/short course I've ever taken. Kudos to the organizers and presenters

Re: Mr. Vaujin: I liked [the] combination of a good textbook, a lot of worked examples (MATLAB code), good and numerous slides, and best of all deep knowledge and agile thinking in response to questions, [and] good examples that backup theoretical.

Re Mr. Vaujin: Deeper knowledge of current Navigation Equation Theory, Psi vs. Phi error modeling and differences. Newer versions of Kalman filters (SQ, SQIF, IF, UKF, SQUKF) and where they are useful.

The course gave me a better understanding of Kalman filters that our GPS at YPG may be using. And other filters that may be implemented or us to try. This course also gave me a good start of how to integrate an IMU to GPS and other methods of aiding.

Dr. Pue's teaching style was excellent! His presentation was clear and his explanation of the strapdown navigation process was very intuitive.

All the topics given in the lectures are quite necessary.

I really like the instructor's [Dr. Pue's] teaching style. He is giving a very good understanding of the subject. The fact that he actually worked on real projects helps a lot because he emphasizes critical points and of course he is really experienced.

Very organized and engaging. A lot of very good, very dense slides; worthy of a textbook. (Wish I could have recorded it!) [Dr. Pue] made it look easy to cover this material, and in-depth.

I liked Dr. Pue. Detailed explanation on equations and easy delivery is impressive.

I definitely liked Dr. Pue's teaching style. Very organized and engaging with a lot of very good, very dense slides; worthy of a textbook. He made it look easy to cover this material and in depth.

Dr. Pue and Mr. Vaujin presented probably the bests GPS & INS class I have taken. It would have taken me many years to learn all that was presented in a week.

I would recommend this inertial course to people who had a first experience with inertial navigation, not to people just starting out with it because of the density of information (this is a compliment.)

The first part was all theoretical but (Dr. Pue) did a great job of taking us with him through the materials. It was quite deep and detailed. More than I expected.

I liked, a lot, the extensive practical experience of [Mr. Vaujin]. He has many very good tips for implementing the algorithms. He helps you to gain insight as well. The slightly chaotic style of teaching grows on you. The many different mechanizations that are possible, each shown in real MATLAB implementations, are immediately applicable. [ I recommend this course] to colleagues with some first INS experience.

I really appreciate his energy and the MATLAB code examples.

[I liked the teaching style] but things moved very quickly, so information covered in earlier lectures was hard to internalize adequately to use in subsequent lectures, i.e., I had limited intuition. Everything made sense as developed/explained.

A great instructor [Dr. Pue] on the nitty gritty of Kalman filters. [The course] combined topics from at least 7 different college courses --which was good.

[Mr. Vaujin] speak clearly, is easy to hear and goes over specific point to make sure we understand basic principles and relationships.

All topics were useful. We could have spent more time on any one topic, however, real learning will come as we practice the topics which will help us with our jobs.

I enjoyed the examples in MATLAB. The fully coded navigator in MATLAB was very useful.

[I would recommend this course to] any group that has anything related to machine control (hardware, component software, system software, positioning and controls). Really appreciated the MATLAB code examples.

After 20 years in the GNSS domain (with emphasis in SBAS), [the instructor was able to] recap, reinforce knowledge and also deepen my knowledge in some areas where I had less experience. The goals have been met. I liked the course a lot. [Dr. Hegarty] was very clear, kind and with a very good background and recognition at international level. I was honored to be taught by Dr. Hegarty. Very good time management, too.

Dr. Betz is very effective in this teaching.  He is approachable, knowedgeable, and well-tuned to the skill level(s) of the students.  I recommend this course to anyone who requires a working knowledge of GPS and its response to interference – navigation, guidance, weapons, test engineers, etc.