Summary: Experienced in engineering research, development, and test.  Skilled in communicating objectives to project teams, technical staff and management. Experienced in leading international and interdisciplinary teams.

·         Systems integration engineering

·         International border security expertise

·         Advanced robotics research and system development

·         Computer simulation (graphic/kinematics, multi-body dynamics, real-time)

·         Coordinating technical projects with national and international organizations

·         Team and project management

Employment History:  

International Security Technology Systems Analyst, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM  2006-present

Program lead for Megaports (MP) Initiative Strategic Low-Volume Seaport (SLVS) program.  Responsible for Sandia program leadership of the SLD MP SLVS project.  Assisted in developing the overall concept of the SLVS concept and lead the design of the initial site to use the system.  Physical Protection Engineer for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.

Technical lead for numerous international projects consisting of installing  fixed radiation detection equipment, physical security enhancements, and communications systems  at land borders, airports and seaports to prevent illicit trafficking of nuclear materials.  Responsible for all aspects of each project including concept of operations development, requirements definition, system design, system evaluation and testing and project management functions.  Physical Protection Expert for Global Threat Reduction Initiative.

Extensive experience in systems analysis, international operations and border security.  Participated in the Department of State-led multi-agency task group to assist the Jordanian government in assessing their infrastructure and border operations, and assisted government of Jordan agency personnel with border security proposals in support of the Anti-Terrorism Assessment activity.   Researched smuggling across international borders for various projects.  .  Prior Program Manager for Russian Science and Technology collaboration for Sandia National Laboratories.  Portfolio spanned high energy, materials science and simulation/computation fields as defined in US/Russian government agreement.

Manager and Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM  2001-2006

Performed system-of-systems analysis for Countermine project funded by DoD.  Project involved analyzing the inputs, outputs and potential course changes in ground and air-based countermine operations for a spearhead team moving to an objective.  Expanded on this work for IED end-to-end operational analysis from human and terrain environment through to detonation.  Concentration was on the earlier “left-of-boom” elements of the delivery chain.  Coordinated input from several national laboratories on portions of the delivery chain that could be disrupted by current or near-term technology.  Performed systems analysis in support of DoD counterterrorism programs while on assignment at the Pentagon.

Managed simulation department.  Developed and applied automation technologies to manufacturing and mobility arenas.  Sandia Project Lead for Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV).  Managed Sandia UGCV team, which was part of Team Retiarius led by Lockheed Martin.  PI for IPP Humanitarian Deminer project with Spektr Conversion and Stolar Horizon.  Co-PI for Open Computing Center NCI project with Strela and LLNL.  FCS Integrated Support Team (FIST) Countermine Task Lead.  Represented DOE National Lab Countermine and IED capability to the Army Research, Development, & Engineering Command.  Project Lead for Shipbuilding task.  Interfaced with Navy and shipyards on ship automation.  Integrated Sandia-developed software with shipyard customer robotic system. 

            Program Manager/ Principal Engineer, Muniz Engineering, Houston, TX 1998-2001

Supervise engineering team on software development and integration contract. Interact with customer on behalf of the team and handle promotion requests, performance appraisals and salary recommendations.  Develop real-time software code for astronaut trainers.  Programmed C-to-Ada interface to integrate trainer software with vendor-supplied flight software.  Prepare test procedures to verify simulator system meets customer requirements.  Perform systems engineering for International Partner contributions to space station trainers.  Develop interface control documentation in conjunction with international providers and NASA.

            Senior Engineer, Oceaneering Space Systems, Houston, TX  1995-1998

Determined feasibility of supplying specific automation services for science payloads.  Communicated with science customers to translate their scientific goals into engineering system requirements.  Presented robotics demonstration to customer resulting in company receiving robotics portion of orbital science facility contract.

Supervised test team responsible for verification of third-party hardware to International Space Station program standards.  Presented team findings and progress to customer, suppliers, and management.  Team commitment to continuous improvement resulted in significant time and cost savings, including reducing loads analysis time from several weeks to three days.  Customer recognized team performance with numerous awards.

Program Office Lead for the Canadian and Japanese extra-vehicular robotics integration activities for the International Space Station.  Performed engineering analysis for integration of robotic systems onto the space station.

            Aerospace Engineer, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL  1983-1994  

Performed conceptual design, simulation and testing of automation systems for space operations.  Configured control stations, ran system evaluation tests, and integrated technology into hardware testbeds.  Performed computer graphic and multi-body dynamic simulations of space station and robotic systems for analysis of orbital logistics and proximity operations, rendezvous and docking, and on-orbit servicing.  Performed trajectory analyses in support of rendezvous mission studies. Conducted vibration tests of flight payloads.

As engineering project manager for microgravity science facility contract, supervised development of automated manufacturing and science facility for orbital materials handling.

Principal Investigator for experiment to evaluate microgravity performance of laboratory robotic systems.  Designed pressure suit glove testing apparatus and methodology.  Published technical papers on robotic system simulation, microgravity flight-testing, pressure-glove evaluation, and teleoperator system performance evaluation.  Performed early evaluation of Russian docking systems.  Coordinated NASA inter-center technical studies.  Represented NASA on national-level technical and programmatic committees.

Seminar Instructor, Launchspace International, Falls Church, VA  1996-1998

Teach professional-level course in space flight robotics.  Develop class curriculum and presentation material.  Work with students, instructors, universities and companies to provide course expertise.  Present seminars in domestic and international forums.

                Adjunct Assistant Professor, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 1993-1996

Appointed to the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  Served on thesis committees, lectured on an invited basis, and conducted workshops on robotics topics.

                Instructor, Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, Normal, AL  Fall 1994

Taught Introductory Statics course.  Developed course syllabus, conducted class, assisted students with assignments, administered exams.

Education:   

            Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University

            M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Tennessee

            B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan

            International Space University (ISU) Summer Session, Kitakyushu, Japan

Professional Affiliations and Awards:

            ERA Nomination 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012       

            Sandia SPOT Team and Individual Performance Awards, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013         

            Associate Fellow: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)

            Robotics International/Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Board of Advisors, 1994-2000

            Robotics International/SME, Chairwoman, Board of Advisors, 1996

            Society of Women Engineers

            Science National Honor Society, Board of Directors

            Member: AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technical Committee, 2001 - 2010

            Member: AIAA Space Operations Support Technical Committee, 1991-1994

            Member: AIAA Space Automation and Robotics Technical Committee, 1994-1996

            OSS Superior Service Team Award, 1997

            Pioneer in Laboratory Robotics, International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics, 1994

            NASA Performance Award, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993

            NASA Certificate of Recognition for Technical Innovation, 1989

            RI/SME Outstanding Engineer Award, 1988

            NASA Certificate of Appreciation, 1988

Tools:

                KBSI Enterprise Modeling Toolkit

                Computer Software: MS Office, PowerPoint, Excel, Corel Draw, Corel Photoshop, Adobe Suite

Computer Systems: PC, Macintosh, Amiga, VAX/VMS, Silicon Graphics

Programming: FORTRAN, Basic, Forth, Ada, C, vendor-specific robot-programming scripts

                Web page design and coding

                Design & Evaluation Process Outline Overview course

Publication list available