A Transporter Chief is a fictional title featured in the Star Trek multimedia franchise. It has been used in most of the television programs associated with the franchise, including the original Star Trek as well as its spin-off projects, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.
A Transporter Chief is a member of Starfleet's Engineering Division and is in charge of the operation and maintenance of a transporter as well as the room in which it is housed. If the Transporter Chief were unavailable, then the duties would fall to a lower ranking Transporter Operator. The Transporter Chief stands behind a computer console, which is facing a teleportation pad and programs coordinates for point to point transportation of matter. The process involves molecularly breaking down bonds of matter, converting it into a stream of transferable data and reassembling the matter, including biological matter, at a predetermined destination point. The transporter chief is also responsible for recalling matter or life forms from the destination back to it's point of origin. In the 23rd century, Nils Pitcairn was the Transporter Chief aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. When the ship came under the command of James T. Kirk, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott became the new Transporter Chief for the crew. In the 24th century, the Transporter Chief on the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D was Miles O'Brien, though Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge often doubled in this capacity as well.