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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 9, 2009 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Peter Hughes

"GSFC's Internal Technology Development Program: Achievements, Directions, and How You Can Get Involved"

ABSTRACT -- Three years ago, GSFC revamped the Center's Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program to make it more opportunity focused and better aligned with the Center's core lines of business. Our goal was simple. We wanted to give our technologists a competitive advantage when they competed for already-identified mission and instrument opportunities. That realignment — coupled with an increased emphasis on collaboration among our technologists — is paying off. In FY 2008, 17 technology teams won more than $73 million in new missions or secured follow-on funding from other research programs to further advance their work. This talk will focus on the Center's recent accomplishments, current projects, the directions that we are heading, and how you and your organization can be part of this success.

SPEAKER -- Peter Hughes is the Chief Technologist for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In this position, he serves as the Chair of the GSFC Technology Federation and is responsible for planning, coordination, execution and oversight of GSFC technology programs to meet Goddard's Science and Exploration Mission responsibilities. He manages GSFC's Internal Research & Development program and helps manage the Center's Strategic Lines of Business.

In his previous positions Mr. Hughes was the Assistant Chief for Technology in the Information Systems Division at GSFC, and was a Technology Systems Engineer or Mission Technologist for the Extreme UltraViolet Explorer (EUVE), Hubble Space Telescope Ground System, and EOS-DIS.

Mr. Hughes served as the Chief Architect and Project Manager of the GenSAA System and for which he holds NASA's first software Patent. He also fully designed and implemented the CLEAR System, the first real-time expert system to monitor a low earth-orbit satellite and supported a number of other initiatives investigating advanced technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, and Human Factors research.

Peter received his B.S. in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary and an M.S. in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. He received his M.S. in the Management of Technology at the University of Pennsylvania's Executive Masters for Technology Management (EMTM) program, a joint program sponsored by the Wharton Business School and the SEAS School of Engineering.


Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov