Advisors from all parts of the expansive space industry help guide the SEDS Rice leadership team by providing key insights and information regarding opportunities, activities, and leadership responsibilities.
Board of Advisors Chair
Wayne Hale | Director of Human Spaceflight, Special Aerospace Services, LLP
Norman Wayne Hale, Jr. is currently the Director of Human Spaceflight, Special Aerospace Services, LLP, of Boulder, Colorado since 2010. In that capacity he provides services in technical consulting, management coaching, technical analysis, safety processes, technical seminars, and advising on organizational culture change. This has also included service on mishap investigations including management decision making and organizational culture. Clientele includes aerospace, energy sector, and other high reliability organizations concerned with safety, management, culture change, and operations in high risk environments.
Mr. Hale retired from NASA in 2010 as the Deputy Associate Administrator of Strategic Partnerships at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Mr. Hale served in the senior leadership of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program from 2003 to 2008 as Launch Integration Manager at the Kennedy Space Center followed by two years as Deputy Program Manager and finally as Program Manager all during the post-Columbia return to flight effort. From 1988 to 2003, he was a Space Shuttle Flight Director for 40 Space Shuttle flights, and prior to that as an orbiter systems flight controller in Mission Control for 15 early Space Shuttle flights.
Mr. Hale counts as the capstone achievement of his career the transformation of NASA Space Shuttle management culture to be one that emphasized safety and mission success. His tenure as Program Manager marked seven successful space shuttle flights and set the safety expectations for the fly out of the space shuttle program.
Mr. Hale has received special honors and awards such as: three NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals; the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; Rice University Outstanding Engineering Alumnus; Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumnus and numerous other awards.
Mr. Hale holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.
Board of Advisors Members
Ginger Kerrick | Deputy Director, NASA Exploration Integration and Science Directorate
Ginger Kerrick, as a child, dreamed of growing up to be either a basketball player or an astronaut. When neither dream came to fruition, Ms. Kerrick developed a fresh perspective – best summed up by the phrase “It just wasn’t meant to be” – and is today part of NASA, serving in the Mission Control Center at the NASA Johnson Space Center as a Flight Director who has, to date, supported 13 International Space Station and five joint shuttle missions. It was there that Ms. Kerrick, a few years earlier, became the first non-astronaut Capsule Communicator (CapCom), the Flight Control position that relays information from Mission Control to an astronaut crew. Through her service in Mission Control, Ms. Kerrick shares in the experience of space travel; and while she may not be an astronaut, because of her support “each astronaut [is] taking a little piece of [her] with them.” But, it was only through hard work and perseverance that Ms. Kerrick arrived at this place, because to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in physics she first had to win academic scholarships. For Ms. Kerrick, life is an adventure and a fulfillment of her childhood dreams best summed up in her own words: “I have no idea what is next for me, but I trust I will find myself exactly where I am supposed to be!”
Dr. Eileen Stansbery | Chief Scientist, NASA Johnson Space Center
Dr. Eileen Stansbery is the chief scientist at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) as well as chief of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division where she is responsible for directing a multi-disciplinary scientific organization of about 250 civil servants and contractors to support NASA’s Planetary Science, Human Exploration and Space Science Enterprises. The organization’s primary functions include stewardship of all NASA-held extraterrestrial samples, astromaterial research and conducting the agency Orbital Debris program. As JSC chief scientist, she provides scientific advice and assessments to Center and Agency leadership directed toward the development of world-class scientific research as well as human and robotic mission capabilities for exploration (primarily the Moon, Mars, and planetary small bodies).
Eileen briefly served as the NASA acting deputy chief scientist, supporting internal agency senior leadership meetings as well as external meetings of the Office of Chief Scientist with the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Academies. She provided policy and subject matter expertise in support to NASA Policy Directive (NPD) and NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) development for Scientific Collections and Planetary Protection. She played a major role in the Genesis Mission (solar wind sample return) as the mission contamination control lead, curation scientist and the JSC payload cleaning project manager. Her expertise in contamination control, collector material installation, ultra-precision cleaning techniques, and curation planning for the samples was critical to the successful recovery of science after the sample return capsule crashed in 2004.
Eileen earned her doctorate in space physics from Rice University and her BS in mathematics and physics from Houston Baptist University. In addition to many internal NASA honors including the Outstanding Leadership, Exceptional Service and Equal Employment Opportunity Medals, Eileen was honored with the 2013 AAS Carl Sagan Memorial Award.
Arturo Machuca | General Manager, Ellington Airport
Arturo Machuca is the General Manager of the Houston Airport System’s Ellington Airport. Machuca oversees the daily operations and the development and implementation of policies and procedures at Ellington Airport. He is also the lead on the Houston Spaceport project.
With over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in the aviation industry, Arturo joined the Houston Airport System in 2009. His prior responsibilities included economic development, industry affairs and business relations for all three airports.
Over the last three years, Machuca has been instrumental in the licensing and development of the Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport. Through his efforts, Machuca has executed the Space Act Agreement between the Houston Spaceport and NASA – Johnson Space Center, negotiated the acquisition of the Houston Spaceport’s first dedicated infrastructure—the Houston Aerospace Support Center, and led the SpaceCom Expo, the first Commercial Space Conference in Houston.
Machuca’s management of the Houston Spaceport project allowed it to be selected as the “2016 Economic Business Deal of the Year” as well as “2016 Overall Business Deal of the Year,” by the Houston Business Journal.
Machuca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hotels and Tourism Administration from Universidad Regiomontana.
Larry Strader | General Manager, GeoControl Systems, Inc.
Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Rice University. During his 30-year professional tenure, Larry held multiple technical and managerial roles. Larry is the General Manager for GeoControl Systems, Inc., a Small Business Administration certified HUBZone company providing systems engineering, software and hardware DDT&E, IV&V, and logistics services to NASA and DOD programs. Recently Larry was a sales executive with Jacobs developing non-traditional partnerships between NASA and the commercial sector. Previously, Larry was a Department Director at L-3 Communications where he oversaw contracts supporting NASA, NOAA, and the FAA. Prior to that position, Larry was the Senior Vice President of Operations at Enterprise Advisory Services, Inc. where he managed employees across a portfolio of government and commercial contracts. Larry provides a unique perspective to customers and stakeholders given his executive management and business development experience at small and large aerospace businesses.