Q: As Lockheed’s top executive in Colorado, with responsibility for 19,000 employees worldwide, what are your priorities?
A: We’ve got several opportunities that we’re pursuing, but we’re focused on three that are going to likely be competed next year. Crew Exploration Vehicle certainly is an important program to us, and it’s part of the space-exploration initiative. We’re also focused on a program called GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite). We’re in a study phase now. The other program next year is GPS-3, which is global positioning satellite. We expect that (the Army) will select one contractor next year to provide the next generation of navigation satellites.
Q: Which of those projects are being worked on locally?
A: The primary site for CEV is here in Denver. The primary site for GOES-R is here in Denver. The lead organization for GPS-3 is in Sunnyvale, Calif., but we’ll do quite a bit of the work here in Denver.
Q: What was your reaction when President Bush unveiled his new vision for space exploration last year, reviving efforts to send humans to Mars?
A: It is absolutely the right vision for NASA. Exploration is certainly what their mission is about. We feel we are positioned to play a major role in space exploration, both in the transportation side of the activity and also the exploration side, whether it be robotic or human exploration.
Q: The United Launch Alliance is a planned merger of rocket-launch operations with the Boeing Co. that still requires regulatory approval. How important is it to Lockheed and metro Denver?
A: The way that we plan on establishing ULA, we will have the program-management and engineering activities – the majority of those activities – here in Denver. What it means to the Denver area is we will bring on the order of 800 or so jobs. We’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll get approval, and hopefully we’ll hear something by the end of the year. But it’s in the government’s hands.
Q: Of the 800 jobs, how many of those will be new?
A: Most of the jobs have people doing them now. The question will be how many of those people will choose to relocate. We’re hopeful that a large majority will choose to relocate.
Q: Is there a project that you’ve worked on in your 36 years with the company that stands out most in your mind?
A: I had the opportunity to work (1970-76) on the Viking program. It put two orbiters in orbit around Mars and two landers on the surface designed to last 90 days, and several years later they were still sending data back. It was just an awesome experience for a young engineer. I wasn’t too far out of college when I got to work on that program.
Q: Were there lessons you learned working on that program that have stayed with you?
A: Oh, absolutely. You learn that it takes a team to make those kinds of things happen. You learn that when difficulty hits you – and certainly we had a lot of difficulty on that program – you don’t shrink away. You have to persevere, and you better have a strong team with you when you do it. You learn just how great this business is.
Q: What kind of impact did Hurricane Katrina have on Space Systems’ operation in the New Orleans area, where it employs about 2,000 people?
A: We have what we call a ride-out team. It’s on the order of 30 people that stay and just attempt to do what they can while the storm is going through. They started the pumps to ensure that we didn’t get flooding to the Michoud (operations) area. At the end of the day, we had damage to the facility. But it was not damage that shut us down for a long period.
Q: Whom do you look up to most?
A: If I were to pick heroes, it’d be family members, my mother in particular. She was the epitome of having a family life and working full time (as a bookkeeper) about 60 hours a week. We always knew where her dedication was. It was to her family and making sure we understood what it was going to take to be successful in life.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: I like woodworking. I like to play golf. And I like to fish and hunt.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Andy Vuong.
