Who We Are

International Foundation for Telemetering (IFT)

The International Foundation for Telemetering (IFT) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the professional and technical interests of the “Telemetering Community.” On May 11, 1964, the IFT was chartered as a nonprofit corporation in accordance with the applicable laws of the State of California. Our “Articles of Incorporation” are on file with the State of California and available from the IFT upon request.

The basic purpose of the IFT is the promotion and stimulation of technical growth in telemetering and its allied arts and sciences. This is accomplished through sponsorship of technical forums, educational activities, and technical publications. The Foundation endeavors to promote unity in the “Telemetering Community” it serves, as well as ethical conduct and more effective effort among practicing professionals in the field.

All activities of the IFT are governed by a Board of Directors selected from industry, science, and government. Board members are elected on the basis of their interest and recognition in the technical or management aspects of the use or supply of telemetering equipment and services. All are volunteers who serve either through their personal sponsorship or with the support of their parent companies or agencies and receive no financial reward of any nature from the IFT.

The IFT Board meets twice annually–once in conjunction with the annual ITC and, again, approximately six months from the ITC. The Board functions as a senior executive body that hears committee and special assignment reports and reviews, adjusts, and derives operating policy and procedures as conditions dictate. A major Board function is that of ensuring continuity of operations for the ITC and fiscal management, including the allocation of funds within the scope of the Foundation’s stated purposes.

The IFT sponsors the annual International Telemetering Conference (ITC). Each annual ITC is initially provided working funds by the IFT. The ITC management, however, plans and budgets to make each annual conference a self-sustaining financial success. This includes returning the initial IFT subsidy as well as a modest profit–the source of funds for IFT activities such as its education support program. The IFT also sponsors the Telemetering Standards Coordinating Committee (TSCC) and the International Consortium for Telemetry Spectrum (ICTS).

In addition, a notable educational support program is carried out by the IFT. The IFT has sponsored numerous scholarships, fellowships, and academic programs in telemetry-related subjects at a number of colleges and universities since 1971. Student participation in the ITC is promoted by assisting with student travel costs and the solicitation of technical papers from students with a monetary award given for best paper at each conference.

The Foundation maintains a master mailing list of personnel active in the field of telemetry for its own purposes. This listing includes personnel from throughout the United States as well as from many other countries since international participation in IFT activities is invited and encouraged. New names and addresses are readily included (or corrected) on the IFT mailing list by visiting the IFT web site:

The Official IFT Brochure
To learn more about “Who we are” and “What we do”, please download the following PDF brochure.

To download the official IFT brochure (warning, 4.5 Mb file): click here

* The IFT is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

The IFT Board of Directors

INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR TELEMETERING BOARD OF DIRECTORS October 24, 2019 (L-R) John Jensen, Clifford Aggen, Michael Scardello, Alan Colthorp, Leslie Bordelon, Derrick Hinton, Charles Garcia, Zoe Aguirre, Thomas Berard, Donald McErlean, Robert Fuller, Vickie Reynolds, Steve Proudlock, Sean McMorrow, Raymond Sommer, Raymond Faulstich, Daniel Harris

Officers

Leslie L. Bordelon – President
Tom R. Berard, COLSA Corporation – 1st Vice President
Raymond E. Sommer, JT4 –Secretary
TBD– Treasurer/TSCC Liaison

Liaisons

Zoe Aguirre, White Sands Missile Range – Army Liaison
Ray Faulstich, PAE – ICTS Liaison
Bruce Johnson, NAWCAD – Navy Liaison
Kenneth “Kip” Temple, 412th TW – Air Force Liaison
Tommy L. Young, Armstrong – NASA Liaison

Directors

Tim Chalfant – Director
Derrick Hinton – Director, SRC
John W. Jensen – Director
Carlos Maez – Director
Donald P. McErlean – Director
Chris Patscheck – Director
Steve Proudlock – Director, NetAcquire
Robert Selbrede– Director

Charles L. Buchheit – Director Emeritus
Robert Fuller – Director Emeritus
Vickie Reynolds – Director Emeritus

Contact the IFT Board: IFTBoard

IFT Supported Groups

The International Foundation for Telemetering was formed to advance the theory and practice of telemetering and to promote unity and effectiveness of the profession. In furthering those purposes the IFT sponsors 3 entities: ITC, TSCC and ICTS.

The IFT has sponsored ITC since inception in 1964 for education, technical exchange and industry unity. The National Telemetry Conference (NTC) formed the Telemetry Standards Coordinating Council (TSCC) in 1960 to recommend, coordinate, and disseminate information concerning telemetry standards. The TSCC has a special role to join the interests of government, academia, other nations, and industry in refining telemetry standards. TSCC (while older than the IFT) became an IFT sponsored organization in 1964 at formation of the IFT. The newest organization sponsored by the IFT is the International Consortium for Telemetry Spectrum (ICTS) formed in 1999 after a decade of encroachment on, and loss of, telemetry spectrum. The ICTS, by Charter, is for information exchange, education and preservation of telemetry spectrum while improving efficiency of spectrum usage.