Greenbelt, MD – May 2025
GAMA-1 Technologies, is proud to spotlight the leadership of our Chief Technology Officer, Gian Dilawari, and his team of subject matter experts. On April 28th, during NOAA-wide Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Immersion Day, Gian highlighted NESDIS’s Innovation Hub (NIH) and its NIH/AWS Proof of Concept (PoC) Sandbox available NOAA-wide, overseen by NOAA’s Assistant Office of the ACIO-S, Manan Dalal, NESDIS Chief Technology Officer, Joe Mani and Program Manager of NIH, Quentin Ancar. The NIH program provides a secure, dedicated environment where satellite operations and science teams can rapidly test AI projects, prototypes, pilot applications, and diverse use cases. Each NIH initiative is provisioned with its own AWS account—complete with EC2 instances, SageMaker notebooks, and AWS Bedrock foundation models—alongside strict security and compliance controls, ensuring NOAA data remains protected. Participants can ingest domain documents (e.g., GOES-R specifications), build and iterate Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflows, and validate proofs-of-concept in a governed, cost-effective framework—all designed to accelerate cloud and AI/ML adoption across NESDIS. In particular, the NIH/AWS PoC Sandbox focuses on quality projects from across NOAA with Production environment potential to further the use of AI from proof-of-concept into mission-critical operations across all line offices.
Notably, the event demonstrated the power of the NIH-developed Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) model as the foundational training framework. Using over 4,000 pages of publicly available GOES-R documentation, more than 100 NOAA participants were able to build and deploy identical GenAI models—end-to-end—in under two hours, showcasing the simplicity, scalability, and effectiveness of using the right tools.
As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner with a validated Migration Competency and Public Sector Designation, GAMA-1 works in close collaboration with AWS, ensuring that NESDIS benefits from direct access to the latest cloud best practices, specialized tools, and co-innovation opportunities. By jointly developing solutions and hosting immersive events like the NOAA Gen AI Immersion Day, we accelerate NOAA’s ability to adopt secure, scalable AI/ML capabilities in their operational environments. Beyond AI/ML, NIH also supports general-purpose cloud innovation initiatives—such as multi-year data reprocessing workflows and software-defined radio experimentation, making it a versatile environment for mission advancement across NOAA.
In the words of Lloyd Noel, Operations Manager for the NIH, addressed to Gus Gamarra, President of GAMA-1, “I do not have the words to express the exemplary performance of the GAMA-1 team. They went far beyond their contractual duties, training and guiding countless NOAA personnel. The RAG model that GAMA-1 designed has been a tremendous tool to aid new and existing customers moving into the AI/ML arena, and it was a key feature in our NIH/AWS Immersion Day Event! The materials they provided and their guidance to the AWS support team turned our first virtual training event into a great success. The quality of your staff speaks volumes about yourself and your company.”
“This firsthand endorsement underscores how GAMA-1’s cloud solutions work through the Innovation Hub not only deliver cutting-edge technology, but also the deep expertise and collaborative spirit that drive NOAA’s AI/ML initiatives forward,” noted Gus Gamarra, GAMA-1 President.
Driving Practical AI Innovation
For organizations like NOAA, translating research breakthroughs into operational tools demands both agility and governance. NESDIS’ NIH addresses this by providing:
- User-centric development in a familiar AWS environment: Participants work within their own AWS accounts, leveraging free foundational services and hands-on support from AWS architects—no extra consultancy fees, all funded by the ACIO-S.
- Secure, domain-specific intelligence: Through Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), NOAA teams ingest mission-critical documents into a private knowledge base, then invoke large language models (LLMs) to generate insights without exposing proprietary data to the public internet.
- Scalable search and analytics: Built on serverless OpenSearch clusters and AWS Bedrock foundation models, the sandbox provides an end-to-end workflow—from document chunking and embedding (using 1,536-dimensional vectors) to high-performance inference—enabling rapid experimentation with minimal operations overhead.
Hands-On Empowerment
Rather than theory, Gian emphasized practicality:
- Interactive Labs: Attendees engage in step-by-step labs—ingesting NOAA’s publicly available documentation, converting text into embeddings, and constructing RAG pipelines in minutes.
- Demonstration of Training Models with Satellite Imagery:
Gian also showcased the NIH sandbox’s support for advanced computer vision workflows by demonstrating how to develop and fine-tune image classification models using GOES-R NetCDF files and GOES-16 ABI CONUS Geocolor JPEG imagery. Using pre-trained models like ResNet-50, he illustrated approaches for classifying satellite images and detecting anomalies, highlighting the sandbox’s capacity to accelerate future AI-driven Earth observation capabilities across NOAA.
- Expert Guidance: From policy reviews under Department of Commerce regulations to best practices for data encryption at rest and in transit, NOAA personnel receive both the technical blueprints and the governance frameworks needed for responsible AI adoption.
A Strategic Partnership for Mission Success
Gian’s presentation underscored GAMA-1’s commitment to NOAA’s mission: enhancing weather forecasting, anomaly detection, and data-driven decision-making. By co-creating the Innovation Hub and PoC Sandbox with NESDIS’ ACIO-S, we’re fostering a culture where experimentation is both safe and scalable, reducing the time from concept to operational capability.
Looking forward, GAMA-1 will continue to collaborate with NOAA subject-matter experts, refining the sandbox to include specialized datasets—such as historical GOES observations and local storm reports—and expanding support for advanced workloads like GPU-accelerated training on massive satellite data arrays.
At GAMA-1 Technologies, innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s our promise. Under Gian Dilawari’s technical stewardship, we’re equipping NOAA NESDIS ACIO-S with the tools, processes, and expertise to transform generative AI from a proof-of-concept into mission-critical operations. Together, we’re charting a new course for data-driven weather intelligence and safeguarding communities through smarter, faster insights.
For more information about GAMA-1’s services please visit www.gama1tech.com or contact our team at [email protected] for more information.
About GAMA-1 Technologies, LLC
Modernizing Government. Maximizing Impact.
GAMA-1 Technologies is a mission-driven, Small Disadvantaged Business empowering federal agencies to deliver smarter services through secure cloud modernization, AI-driven automation, and adaptive cybersecurity and compliance. We specialize in enabling decision support mission critical data to benefit humanity—leveraging innovation to streamline government and accelerate outcomes that matter.
With deep roots in environmental observation infrastructure and data modernization, we help agencies like NOAA, NASA, and others transform legacy systems, unify mission data, and embrace digital-first operations. Our solutions are engineered for public good—driving efficiency, reducing costs, and amplifying mission success.
Powering Federal Efficiency Through Innovation, GAMA-1 delivers:
- AI-Driven Analytics & Automation – Eliminating duplication of efforts and optimizing workflows.
- Cloud & Infrastructure Modernization – Migrating to scalable, secure, and mission-ready environments.
- Enterprise Data Management & Governance – Breaking down silos for smarter decision-making.
- Adaptive Cybersecurity & Compliance – Safeguarding critical systems, protecting data integrity, while meeting evolving federal mandates.
- Digital Transformation & Mission Enablement – Accelerating delivery with DevSecOps, low-code, and re-engineering.
As an AWS Advanced Tier Partner, MS Partner, Scaled Agile Silver Partner, and Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador—with ISO 9001, 20000, 27001 certifications—we align technical precision with mission impact.
Contact:
Stan Coachman, Contracts Manager – 301-982-4262, [email protected]
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