Panel:
Exploring non-STEM education in space development

Saturday, May 27, 8:30 am – 9:45 am, Frisco 1&2

Panel: Exploring non-STEM education in space development

A great deal of attention had been focused on the importance science, engineering, and math education in space development. The reality is that when you look at NASA, DoD and even commercial programmatic challenges, delays, and cost overruns you that the technologies are seldom the problem – those were understood before the missions were funded – it is often a lack of leadership, management, legal, and financial skills that keep big rockets and expensive spacecraft on the ground and push them orders of magnitude beyond their budgets. All too often, brilliant scientists and engineers are elevated into PI and project management positions on space missions for which they are simply not prepared. Nobody has looked more carefully at this challenge than Professor Greg Autry, who served on NASA’s Agency Review Team in 2016 and as the nominated Chief Financial Officer at NASA in 2020. He brings together experts in Space Operations, Business, and Law to explore the existing and emerging educational resources available to address this learning gap.

Panel will include:

Moderator: Greg Autry, PhD, Director and Professor of Space Leadership, Policy and Business at Thunderbird School of Global Management and former NASA CFO Nominee

Dr. Andrew Aldrin, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University , Space Operations

Zaheer Ali, Thunderbird School of Global Management / ASU, Space Leadership and Business

Ken Davidian, International Space University, Space Business

Dr. John West, Space Foundation, Accreditation

Michelle Hanlon, For All Moonkind and the University of Mississippi, Space Law

Greg Autry is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Thunderbird Initiative for Space Leadership, Policy, and Business in the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an Affiliate Professor with the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University. Professor Autry holds a BA in History from California Polytechnic University at Pomona and an MBA and PhD from the Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.

Prior to joining the Thunderbird faculty, he taught entrepreneurship with the Lloyd Greif Center at the University of Southern California from 2013 to 2020. He taught entrepreneurship, strategy, and macroeconomics at the University of California, Irvine, between 2002 and 2014. Autry has also taught space entrepreneurship at the Kennedy Space Center as part of a graduate certificate program in commercial space from International Space University and the Florida Institute of Technology (2019-2021).

Autry’s research focuses on the governmental role in the emergence of new industries, and he has researched within the commercial space industry since 2003. His extensive experience in space policy includes serving on the 2016 NASA agency review team. Autry served as NASA White House Liaison in 2017, and in 2020 the President nominated him to serve as the space agency’s Chief Financial Officer. He also served as Chair of the Safety Working Group in the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) at FAA. Autry has been a notable advocate for space exploration and development. Currently, he serves as Vice President of the National Space Society a non-profit organization dedicated to extending humanity’s presence into our solar system.

Before entering higher education, Autry had a career as a serial entrepreneur, founding several technology startups. These ventures included a video game developer, computer services firm, and an enterprise software development company in the clinical healthcare space.

Panelist:

Dr. Andrew Aldrin

Associate Professor, College of Aviation

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Dr. Andrew Aldrin is President of the Aldrin Family Foundation, a charitable 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to harnessing the inspiration of space to ignite a passion for STEAM education in students of all ages and backgrounds. He has served in leadership roles in this organization since 2014, during which time he has overseen the extension of educational programs to over 300 elementary schools and universities.

Dr. Aldrin is also the Program Coordinator of the Masters of Space Operations at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Previously he was the Director of the ISU Center for Space Entrepreneurship at Florida Tech and an Associate Professor of Engineering Management at Florida Tech. Before moving into academia, Dr. Aldrin had a distinguished career in industry and government research, including executive positions at Boeing, United Launch Alliance and Moon Express.

Dr. Aldrin was also a member of the research staff at the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Defense Analyses. He serves on the board of several charitable organizations, including The Secure World Foundation, Sea Space Symposium, and the Tau Zero Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in Political Science, an MBA from TRIUM (NYU, LSE, HEC), and an MA from George Washington University in Science, Technology and Public Policy.

Panelist:

Zaheer Ali

Professor of Practice PRN

Thunderbird School of Global Management / ASU

Zaheer Ali is a respected expert on space technology and policy, an agilist, leader, and technologist. He is now a Managing Partner at New Space Finance, Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management, which is part of ASU, and Director of High-Performance Computate at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He is also an advisor to multiple space start-ups including ThinkOrbital which is building a 4th generation space station, Pulsar Fusion, Neutron Star Systems, and Space Railway, amongst others.

He previously served as a Senior Manager at USRA, leading aviation data sciences, artificial intelligence, quantum sciences, and nanotechnology for the NASA Ames NAMS contract. He was formerly a senior member of the project management office for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) with responsibility for all software products and the safety and quality of all USRA work on SOFIA. Previously he built science instrumentation and the laboratory facilities for SOFIA and stood up their science ground operations.

In addition, he managed science ground support on multiple deployments around the world. Zaheer is also a founding executive for Material Mind, an applied AI science company, and AIXIA Global, an Industry 4.0 technology integration and digital/agile transformation company. He is trained as a research physicist which has resulted in patents, an R&D100 award, and over 40 authored or co-authored publications. He has also worked as an engineer and manager of teams and programs for the US Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site where he co-founded the National Center for Nuclear Security, worked as a Principal Investigator and Shot Director at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester and consulted as a micro/nano device (MEMS) engineer.

Panelist:

Dr. Ken Davidian

Vice President, North American Operations

International Space University

Dr. Ken Davidian is Vice President for International Space University’s North American Operations. Dr. Davidian spent 14 years working for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, 20 years at NASA (Lewis/Glenn Headquarters) and 5 years in private industry/academia. Currently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the New Space journal, serves as an Adjunct Professor for Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, and is owner of Impossible Research LLC. Dr. Davidian is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, a Full Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and is internationally active as an officer or advisor on multiple committees and groups. Davidian received a BS degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Ohio State University, 1983) and an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering (Case Western Reserve University, 1987). In 2018, Davidian received a doctorate in Business Administration (University of Cape Town – Graduate School of Business) with a focus on market-level organizational change, innovation, and space market emergence.

As Senior Vice President, Center for Innovation & Education (CI&E), Dr. John West is responsible for the development and delivery of innovative educational programs that inspire and inform the new generation of space leaders. Dr. West also provides leadership over the Space Foundation Discovery Center which is the region’s first and only dedicated space, science and technology center and museum.

Prior to joining Space Foundation, Dr. West held high-level educational leadership positions such as K-12 principal, program director, and university dean. He earned his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, Research, and Policy from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Dr. West is also a published author and a licensed professional counselor.