I pioneered the first night-ops Astronaut Training Class at NASA's MRMDF
Author Non-Fiction Book
NASA (USA) and ESA (Switzerland) management experience.
Project Manager, Test Director, Software Project Engineer - Jacobs - NASA - JSC - ER5 , cont.
When NASA decided to explore missions to Near Earth Asteroids we needed a mockup for future training events, so I envisioned and created an 8x8 foot Asteroid wall consisting of two 4x8 plywood panels and secret proportions of chicken wire, cement, Styrofoam beats, sheetrock joint compound or float, spray glue and spray paint as seen in this picture:
My Artistic Creation of a Near Earth Asteroid
Project Manager - maxon motor - Switzerland
When it was time for a change, I accepted a job as an aerospace project manager near Lucerne in Switzerland working for maxon motor, a company that has and still is providing most of the small electromechanical actuators used on all of JPLs Martian rovers.
During my 3 years in Europe, I got to interact professionally with folks from the European Space Agency (ESA) as well as British, German and Italian aerospace and defense companies. One of my greatest joys was to work on the Qualification campaign and leading the life cycle testing in Italy for the actuators of the ESA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, slated to fly to Mars in 2022. The absolute greatest joy, however, was being able to explore Europe and reconnect with my heritage.
A prototype of one of the actuators slated to fly to Mars in 2022 on the Rosalind Franklin rover.
Programs Manager - Honeybee Robotics - California
While on business travel in Italy, I learned about Honeybee Robotics in California and their out of this world exploration systems like drills and sampling systems used for planetary science missions such as space mining and in-situ resource utilization.
This company was the smallest, but one of the most innovative companies I had the pleasure of working for. As is customary with smaller companies, I wore multiple hats. As the Programs Manager, I was responsible for all 30+ projects while overseeing finances and general operations. I helped grow the team from about 30 to over 60 employees in the 3+ years I worked with Vice President Kris Zacny and Engineering Director Gale Paulsen and I oversaw the relocation of the company from the original Pasadena to the new Altadena location.
Bonfire Teambuilding at Playa del Rey near LA in California
Recent Work
Aerospace Group Manager - Jacobs - Houston, TX
Sr. Aerospace Program Manager - Paragon SDC - Houston, TX - Tucson, AZ
Sr. Aerospace Program Manager - Paragon SDC - Houston, TX - Tucson, AZ
Coming full circle because it made sense at the time, I relocated back to where I started my career close to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. As the Product Development Group Manager at Jacobs for the NASA JETS contract, I was responsible for the output of 270+ aerospace employees. I lead a team of 5 section managers for work consisting of life support systems, power and propulsion, display and control, telemetry and communication, fluid systems, and robotics for a combined annual contract value of $60M+. I was hired among other reasons to implement organizational change management, to change the culture from a reactive to a proactive management of said projects. I also chaired periodic project health status reviews. The video above shows my JETS team's contribution to NASA's Launch Abort System that was tested in July of 2019. We provided the flight instrumentation, avionics, power systems, GN&C, Electronic Data Recorders, as well as end to end systems engineering and integration for the Crew Module and the Separator Ring.
Sr. Aerospace Program Manager - Paragon SDC - Houston, TX - Tucson, AZ
Sr. Aerospace Program Manager - Paragon SDC - Houston, TX - Tucson, AZ
Sr. Aerospace Program Manager - Paragon SDC - Houston, TX - Tucson, AZ
I was hired by Paragon to start up and run the largest program the company had ever worked. I took the program from kickoff through Systems Requirements Review and a good portion of the way to PDR. I lead and was responsible for all aspects of the program including customer and subcontractor management and helped grow the team in the process from a handful of engineers to a sizable number. Since the NASA award for this contract has been slow in materializing, I then focused on the proposal and contractual efforts to fully secure this large multi million dollar program. Risk and Agile management practices are the 2 key management strategies that are expected to keep the program running as planned, profitable and on schedule.