"Everyone’s work at WindBorne Systems is crucial for establishing accurate forecasts as the data that our balloons collect is incorporated into the Global Forecast System,” explained Jehan Godrej, head of launch operations at the Palo Alto based startup. Operating, "the largest balloon constellation in the world” under the name of Atlas, they release "hundreds of autonomous, next-generation weather balloons each month” from their global launch sites, notes the company website.
Their long duration Global Sounding Balloons (GSBs) that circumnavigate the globe are not "simple weather tracking devices that we throw up into the sky. GSBs are highly sophisticated, in situ atmospheric research platforms. Each unit carries an advanced avionics package consisting of a miniature computer brain, Global Positioning System, various sensors and Satcomms (geostationary communications satellite) equipment,” as earlier explained by Godrej.
"Ensuring that our balloons get launched successfully and efficiently from all 12 of our active launch sites,” has been 28-year-old Godrej’s core responsibility during his first year of association with the six-year-old startup, he informed Parsiana. "Besides handling logistics for our launch sites and managing quality issues with our hardware in the field,” he is also tasked with "running our business subsidiaries globally.”
Top: Jehan Godrej; above (l and center): The New York Times images
of him launching a sophisticated balloon (far r)
Realizing that "atmospheric data is the biggest missing piece to improving modern forecasts,” WindBorne fuses data from their long-duration balloons with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) models to produce accurate weather forecasts,” notes their website. The bunch of "loonies,” as they describe themselves on their website, take pride in "turning atmospheric chaos into actionable intelligence that saves lives and protects our planet.” Their software platform is used regularly by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defence, the US Air Force and many others.
When an article on WindBorne was carried in The New York Times of July 13, with an image of Godrej attaching a balloon on a launch mechanism, the August newsletter of the Zarthoshti Anjuman of Northern California proudly announced, "ZANC’s own Jehan Godrej featured in The New York Times.” The newsletter further mentioned that Godrej was born and raised in the Bay Area and attended Los Altos High School, earning his undergraduate degree in environmental science from Whittier College in Southern California where he was also a student-athlete competing in the men’s tennis team for four years. During college he worked on his own startup before transitioning into the financial technology industry in New York for a brief while. Besides tennis he enjoys long distance running.
"He is constantly on the go, to launch sites all over the world. Loves his job! Loves coming to India whenever he gets a few days. He is very family oriented and is also teaching himself Gujarati,” mentioned his mother Ernaz Irani, an electrical engineer who has her own software company. Father Mahyar has his independent accounting practice. "All our three children’s last name is Godrej (named after their great-grandfather on their dad’s side, Godrej Irani who created Aspi and Company in Indore in 1928). My grandfather Framji Sidhwa created Globe Theatres Pvt Ltd in the 1920s (Bombay’s Regal Cinema still stands as testimony). We are a family of entrepreneurs,” revealed Ernaz.
While he does not get time to participate in ZANC events, Jehan maintains, "My Zoroastrian roots have influenced me greatly. I love eating Parsi food, learning about Zoroastrian culture, and following in my great-grandfathers’ footsteps in innovation.”