I Am NASA Stennis: Tom Lipski

As NASA innovates for the benefit of humanity and strives to improve life on Earth through technological advances, it needs people to help guide the innovations through the proper channels and share the story of how the technologies ensure a better future.

Enter Tom Lipski, a technical manager at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Day in and day out, a large part of his job includes supporting contract compliance, intellectual property, and new technology reporting.

A typical workday for the Long Beach, Mississippi, native and resident involves reviewing new technology reports to ensure the supporting paperwork is in order. The reports come from NASA and agency partners requesting proposals in order to establish contracts to develop various technologies.

Lipski tracks documents through the intellectual property process, which can determine if a new technology requires intellectual property protection and whether it can be patented and earn royalties for its inventor.

Another part of Lipski’s job is coordinating and participating in technology transfer expansion outreach through the agency’s Tech Transfer University (T2U).
Through NASA’s T2U program, Lipski connects with university students in Mississippi and Louisiana to discuss NASA-proven technologies while also encouraging entrepreneurship to use those technologies.

Student entrepreneurs build case studies with NASA’s patent portfolio while learning about commercialization and licensing opportunities. Lipski describes it as the proudest part of his job because of the ripple effect it can have.

“I think it is important because these students are the future of our country and what we are able to accomplish as a nation,” Lipski said. “I think hope is what it comes down to, the hope of the things that I just mentioned will happen. The end result could be startup companies, which leads to jobs, helping the economy, improving their daily lives, and helping others.”

Lipski has worked at Stennis for six years since initially applying for a systems engineering position. Even before he arrived on site, he had fond memories of Stennis from witnessing engine tests as a teenager.

As the technical manager interacts with various aspects of the NASA community, it is through his interactions with a diverse workforce that Lipski recognizes the value of others.

“If you are able to actively listen to others and understand other perspectives, I think we all benefit,” he said.

While NASA continues to provide value to all of humanity thanks, in part, to efforts such as Lipski’s, the technical manager says it is the community aspect at Stennis that he prizes most about his work.

“The center is not necessarily the infrastructure (test stands and buildings); it’s also the people, the community that makes things work and go,” he said. “It is because of the community that is here that things go so well.”

For information about Stennis Space Center, visit Stennis Space Center.