Michael J. Gazarik Will Track Technology 'Investments' Across
The Agency
NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun has announced the
appointment of Michael J. Gazarik as the agency's deputy chief
technologist. Gazarik will be a key member of the office
responsible for coordination, integration and tracking of all
technology investments across the agency, as well as management of
NASA's Space Technology programs.
"I'm delighted Mike has agreed to come to Washington to help
manage the technology portfolio that will enable NASA's future
missions in aeronautics, science and exploration," Braun said.
"Mike has more than 20 years experience in the design, development
and operation of spaceflight systems, spanning both science and
exploration missions. His technical leadership skills will be a
great asset to our team as we implement the agency's Space
Technology Program."
Prior to this appointment, Gazarik was the deputy director for
programs in the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Va. In this role, he balanced the directorate's
engineering and fabrication capabilities across projects that
ranged from conceptual design to spaceflight operations, focused
the directorate's resources to deliver flight hardware for numerous
flight programs, and led the formulation of a variety of programs
in science and exploration.
In previous roles, Gazarik was the chief engineer of NASA's
Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO)
Earth science mission, and served as the project manager for the
Mars Science Laboratory entry, descent and landing instrumentation
project during the formulation and design phases. Gazarik also was
principal investigator for the Shuttle Program's Extravehicular
Infrared Camera Project, leading the development of this handheld
infrared camera system in 2006.
Prior to joining NASA, Gazarik served as project manager for the
Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS)
project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln
Laboratory. He also led the development of the Airborne Sounder
Testbed-Interferometer, an instrument that helps scientists
understand temperature and water vapor profiles of the Earth's
atmosphere. Gazarik also worked in the private sector on software
and firmware development for commercial and government
applications.
Gazarik earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1987. He earned an M.S. in 1989 and
Ph.D. in 1997, both in electrical engineering, from the Georgia
Institute of Technology.
Gazarik has received numerous awards, including NASA's
Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2007 and the Silver Snoopy Award,
one of the agency's highest honors, in 2006. He has authored or
co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications.