Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington, DC                September 30, 1997
(Phone:  202/358-1761)


RELEASE:  97-221

NASA NAMES MINORITY CONTRACTORS OF THE YEAR


    NASA has named two small firms as minority contractor and 
subcontractor of the year for their exceptional contributions 
to the nationÕs space program.

    Dynacs Engineering Company, Inc., Clearwater, FL, was named 
NASA Small Disadvantaged Business Contractor of the Year and 
Micro Craft, Inc., Tullahoma, TN, Small Disadvantaged Business 
Subcontractor of the Year.  

    Dynacs Engineering Company, nominated by NASAÕs Johnson 
Space Center, Houston, TX, was recognized for providing complex 
technical and management support for the integration of Russian 
cooperative activities into the International Space Station 
Program.  Dynacs provides systems engineering and integration 
for Phase 1 experiments and demonstrations, including 
experiment definition, subsystem evaluations, safety 
assessments, and Shuttle and Mir systems integration and 
verification planning.  Dynacs Engineering was founded in 1985 
by its current President and CEO, Dr. Ramen Singh.

    Micro Craft, Inc. was nominated for Small Disadvantaged 
Business Subcontractor of the Year by Sverdup Technology, Inc., 
Huntsville, AL, a prime contractor to NASAÕs  Marshall Space 
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.  Under a subcontract with 
Sverdup Technology, Inc., Micro Craft supports the Computers 
and Data Systems Division of the Astrionics Laboratory in the 
design and development of a Space Station Furnace Facility 
ground test system, X-ray calibration facility master-control 
computer, and data archival/retrieval system.  Ms. Fran Folk 
Marcum is the Chief Executive Officer of the company, which was 
founded in 1958.

    NASA also awarded three of its employees the Exceptional 
Achievement Medal for their significant support of the AgencyÕs 
socio-economic business programs in the small business, 
technical, and procurement arenas.  Recognized were Tom May, 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, and Steve Craig and 
Aloysius Hepp from the Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH.  

    In addition, four Centers were recognized for meeting or 
exceeding all of their negotiated small business goals for 
Fiscal Year 1996.  They were the Ames Research Center, Mountain 
View, CA, the Stennis Space Center, Stennis Space Center, MS, 
the Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, and the Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.   Ken Szalai, Director, 
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, along with 
Hernandez Engineering, Inc., Houston, TX, and Reggie Williams, 
President, Procurement Resources, Inc., Atlanta, GA, received 
special recognition awards.

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