Edward M. Austin

Ed Austin is currently the Lead for the Project Controls and Integration function at Ames Research Center. Ed is also the Contraction Officer’s Representative for various joint NASA Air Force Space Projects. Ed joined NASA in the fall of 2006 to serve as the project manager of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Science Project. He served there until 2009. He then served as the Deputy Project Manager on the OMEGA project from 2009 through 2012.

Ed began his aerospace career in 1979 at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company in Everett, WA. As a design engineer he focused on the design of mechanisms and structures. He has led mechanical design teams and systems engineering teams in the development, integration, test, delivery and support of a wide variety of equipment used for military applications. These assignments led to a position as a design engineering department supervisor and later a supervisor of a systems engineering organization. As an engineer and supervisor he has authored proposals, developed skills in earned value management, risk management and planning and scheduling. In 1992 Ed came to Ames as a contractor providing engineering support to NASA’s Space Station Biological Research Project, eventually becoming an engineering manager and manager for new business development with Lockheed Martin.

Ed received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of California, Davis, a Certificate in Project Management from The University of California – Extension, Santa Cruz, and is currently Certified as a Federal Acquisition Certification-Contracting Officer’s Representative, (FAC-COR).