Mr. Squire currently serves as a Principal Engineer in the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC).  In 1991, Mr. Squire began his career at the Kennedy Space Center as a Space Shuttle Systems Engineer responsible for the testing and check-out of the Environmental Control and Life Support System for the Space Shuttle.  In 1995, he assumed the added responsibility for the Fuel Cell and Power Reactant Storage and Distribution System (FC/PRSD).  In 2002, Mr. Squire was named the System Specialist for the FC/PRSD System, where he served as the lead engineer responsible for ground processing of the FC/PRSD System.

In 2006, Mr. Squire joined the NESC as the Technical Assistant to the NESC Director at the Langley Research Center.  The following year, he was named as an NESC Associate Principal Engineer, where he directed multi-discipline teams for a number of technical assessments.  These assessment activities included several focusing on the increasing threat of micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD).  He directed an evaluation of the Constellation Program’s MMOD risk assessment process, providing recommendations on how to improve the Orion Crew Module’s MMOD protection capability.  In another activity, Mr. Squire led a team to develop enhanced MMOD shield designs for International Space Station modules.

In 2009, Mr. Squire received the Silver Snoopy Award for his work on the investigation seeking the root cause of damage to the Space Shuttle orbiter’s reinforced carbon-carbon wing leading edge. Mr. Squire holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. 

NASA/LinkedIn/ Mike Squire on MMOD

Michelangelo Ambrosini is a Senior Space Engineer, Team Leader and Technical Manager with many years of work experience in national and international space agencies (EUMETSAT, EC, ESA and DLR), industries (Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and SSC), organizations (SpaceOps, AIAA, ECSECO, AAS, AFCEA and SGAC) and academia (Space Economy Institute).

For his contribution to the ESA/ESOC Rosetta Mission Control Team and for his professional dedication in support of the Rosetta Mission he has received from the European Space Agency the “2011 ESA Award for Teamwork Excellence”.

He has achieved a university Bachelor’s Degree and a university Engineer’s Degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical, Astronautical and Space Engineering with specializations in Satellites and Orbital Platforms and a university Postgraduate Master’s Degree in Advanced Communications and Navigation Satellite Systems.

He got many trainings and certifications in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautics, Human Spaceflight, Space Exploration, Spacecraft Engineering and Operations, Rocket Science, Space Mission Design and Operations, Climate Monitoring and Earth Observation from Space, Project Management, Engineering Leadership, Management, Decision Making, Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Robotics, Engineering Simulations and Hypersonics.

He published a book titled “GPS Precise Relative Positioning of Formation Flying Satellites". He is the author of many conferences’ technical papers and technical magazines articles.

He has strong experience in Space Projects and Missions Technical Management, System Engineering, Mission Operations Preparation and Execution, Space and Ground Segments Development and Procurement, Spacecraft Engineering, Simulations and Training, GNSS. 

www.linkedin.com/in/michelangeloambrosini (Michelangelo’s public profile on LinkedIn)

Scott Burleigh is a Principal Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, where he has been developing flight mission software since 1986.  A founding member of the Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) Research Group of the Internet Research Task Force, Mr. Burleigh was a co-author of the DTN Architecture definition (Internet RFC 4838).  He also co-authored the specification for version 6 of the DTN Bundle Protocol (BP, Internet RFC 5050) supporting automated data forwarding through a network of intermittently connected nodes, and is now lead author for the specification for BP version 7.  Mr. Burleigh leads the development and maintenance of implementations of BP and related protocols that are designed for integration into deep space mission flight software, with the long-term goal of enabling deployment of a delay-tolerant Solar System Internet.  Mr. Burleigh has received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal and four NASA Space Act Board Awards for his work on the design and implementation of these communication protocols.

Michael Ferguson is a member of the senior professional staff at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. His primary role is in the planning and execution of missile flight tests for the Missile Defense Agency and the United States Navy. His skill set includes pre-mission analysis and modeling of super/hyper-sonic systems, as well as conducting on-site launch operations and range safety activities. He holds two Master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University in Space Systems Engineering and Technical Management, as well as an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech.

David Fuller has over 40 years of experience in space and aviation operations, safety, and systems engineering that includes air traffic control, human spaceflight, and commercial communications satellites. His roles included biomedical engineering for the NASA Flight Surgeon and German Space Agency (DLR) Medical board., director of on-orbit operations for several European Space Agency (ESA) Spacelab facilities, flight operations for a fleet of commercial communications satellites, and trainer for astronauts and mission operations controllers.

Mr. Fuller currently works at the NASA Glenn Research Center as the Lead Systems Engineer for ISS physical science projects and is a member of the NASA Human Factors Technical Discipline Team.

Mr. Fuller has studied human factors and organizational accidents since 1990, and written and presented papers on adapting aviation crew safety concepts to space operations and the medical industry. He led workshops for space operations management emphasizing human factors. He has delivered presentations on human performance to diverse industries that include space operations, clinical medicine, insurance underwriters, electric grid operations, and power generation. He authored a chapter in NASA SP-2017-633: Engineering, Life Sciences, and Health/Medicine Synergy in Aerospace Human Systems Integration.

Mr. Fuller is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), past Chair of the AIAA Space Operations and Support Technical Committee, and a past Chair of the Sacramento Section. He has participated in numerous NASA- and AIAA-led educational outreach efforts, supporting STEM education efforts in many schools around the USA. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Dr. Chandru Mirchandani – INCOSE Fellow; AIAA Associate Fellow; and IEEE Senior Member.  Has worked in R&D of integrated circuits at Hewlett-Packard.  With Lockheed-Martin Space Operations, supported Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in research, development, design and integration of VLSI-based telemetry systems using state-of-the-art in-house technologies; and Co-PI with JPL on Intelligent Sensor and Satellite Networks for Earth Science and Exploration.  Led the advanced NASA commercialization within Lockheed Martin using custom ASICs for XBAND processing systems; participated in the research and infusion of FPGAs, IPs, and COTS for data processing in space and on the ground.  Technical chair at national, international symposia and conferences; invited; participated in Earth Science Technology Operations and Distributed Space Systems workshops developing future technology needs.  

Currently, with Leidos, Qualified System Architect and Principal System Engineer and Lead in Reliability, Maintainability and Availability (RMA) Engineer and SME; developed new models predicting software failure rates, dynamically updated with actual data. Taught Fault Tolerant Computing Systems (University of Southern Australia); and Object Oriented Analysis and Design (John Hopkins).  Currently, Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and teaches System Engineering, Systems Analysis, Applied Enterprise Systems Engineering and Requirements Engineering.  As recipient of Fulbright Specialist Grant 2012 – Fulbright Scholar Program, developed and taught “Risk Management in Large Scale Systems” at University of Sri Lanka, Moratuwa.  Invited as Plenary Speaker at the ICOQM 2006 in India.  Interests include research, design and model development of systems based on reliability, performance and cost; fault-tolerant systems; Bayesian processes and decision theory.

Dr. Lori Magruder is an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics department. She leads the remote sensing group with affiliations both at UT’s Center for Space Research and the Applied Research Laboratories.  Her research is primarily dedicated to remote sensing instrumentation, implementation, validation and 3D geospatial data exploitation. Dr. Magruder received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Southern California in Aerospace Engineering and her master’s degree from Princeton University in Mechanical an Aerospace Engineering. Her Ph.D. was earned from The University of Texas at Austin with a focus on ground-based validation techniques for NASA’s ICESat (Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite) mission. She has held positions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory prior to returning to UT Austin. Dr. Magruder has been the ICESat-2 Science Team lead since 2014 and has supported this mission through pre-launch development, launch and now on-orbit operations. She also is the Principal Investigator for the satellite’s precision pointing determination operational program. In addition to her leadership responsibilities within ICESat-2 and scientific studies for space-based laser altimetry, Dr. Magruder leads many other NASA and the Department of Defense programs with her expertise in geospatial topics with a unique link between engineering and science applications through remote sensing.

Rachel Henderson received her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Alabama in 2016 where she was also a member of the Varsity Women’s Rowing team. She received a Master’s of Science in Space Studies from Rice University in 2018. She currently works as a Project Engineer on the sustaining engineering of the Exercise Equipment on board the ISS.

William W. Vaughan, PhD, is a retired independent consultant at NASA. He evaluated atmospheric conditions associated with insurance claims, aerospace meteorology-related matters, and technical standards in collaboration with NASA. William is also a NASA emeritus for the Marshall Space Flight center. In 1951, he obtained his Bachelor of Science (BSc) with honors from the University of Florida. The following year, William earned his graduate certificate from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He concluded his doctorate studies and attained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in engineering science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1976. Additionally, William is certified as a consulting meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society. He is also a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Prior to working with NASA, William served as a scientific assistant for the Air Force Armament Center at the Eglin Air Force Base. He also enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as Captain until his honorable discharge in 1962. He was a research professor in atmospheric sciences at the University of Alabama. Throughout his impressive career, William has been recognized for his exceptional work; for instance, he was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, and Who’s Who in the World. He was also presented with the Exceptional Service Award from NASA, the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, and the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who. In addition, the American Meteorological Society honored him with a Losey Atmospheric Sciences Award, an Excellence in Aerospace Standards Award, and a Distinguished Service Award. On the personal front, William is currently enjoying his retirement while volunteering for community activities.

Christopher Ross Simpson was born and raised in Port Charlotte, FL. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Alabama in 2016. He was awarded a SMART scholarship from the Naval Air Warfare Center – Weapons Division, China Lake for his Ph.D. work. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Alabama and the current Secretary of the AIAA Space Operations and Support Technical Committee.

Simpson Aerospace / LinkedIn / Orbit Determination Lectures

Nuno Ramos Carvalho holds a MsC degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto; in addition to holding an degree in Systems Engineering and Informatics, a MsC in Computer Science, and a PhD in Computer Science. In between he was a research fellow at the United Nations University and had the opportunity to take multiple roles in top industries on their fields, gaining experience with designing and developing solutions for addressing real world problems. He successfully completed the Space Studies Program in 2022 (SSP22) by the International Space University (ISU), where he had the opportunity to be a member of the engineering department and developed skills in systems engineering and related topics. 

He then started a role as an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning software engineer intern at the European Space Operations Center (ESA/ESOC) in the Advanced Ground & Space Applications (AGSA) laboratory, contributing to the advancement of space technology and exploration. He is currently a Spacecraft Operations Engineer for the OPS-SAT Lab team at ESA/ESOC.