Bagley’s E-Week to feature NASA engineers

A discussion panel with NASA engineers will be held in the auditorium in Simrall Electrical Engineering Building on Wednesday, April 6, from 5 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Open to the public, the event informs students about programs and opportunities with NASA with the opportunity for open discussion.

With a presentation focused on NASA’s Space Launch System and its role in future space exploration, the panel features the following four NASA engineers, each with an engineering foundation from Mississippi State.

Arthur “Gene” E. Goldman, a 1977 Mississippi State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, currently serves as executive director for Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Southeast Space Operations Division, a position he has held since retiring from NASA in 2012. Prior to retiring from NASA, Goldman was acting director and deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Goldman also served as director of NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, from 2008-2010. Over the course of Goldman’s NASA career, which began in 1990, he has been honored multiple times for his work with the agency, including a 2013 Presidential Rank Award for “sustained extraordinary accomplishment” with NASA. Goldman was inducted into the Meridian Community College Hall of Fame in 2010 for career achievement and currently serves on both the Board of Directors of the Huntsville Chapter of the National Space Club and the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce.

David K. Hall earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering in 1984 from Mississippi State University and soon began his career at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center the following year. He has been with the SLS Program’s Stages Element Office since 2011, currently serving as assistant manager. Hall’s 31-year career with NASA’s Marshall Center has seen him serve in roles as varied as deputy manager, test control engineer, safety diver in Marshall’s neutral buoyancy simulator and design team lead for the SLS core stage. The author of several papers on electrical power systems and requirements for spacecraft, Hall has repeatedly been recognized by NASA for his service and outstanding performance, honoring him with the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2012, as well as many other awards during his career with the agency. A native of Decatur, Alabama, Hall and his wife, Linda, have two children.

Megan Martinez earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 2005, as well as a master’s degree in business administration in 2014 from MSU. She currently serves as a systems and integration engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a position she has held since 2010. Martinez lives in Waveland, Mississippi, with her husband Patrick and two sons, and enjoys visiting Starkville to cheer on the Bulldogs in her spare time.

Matthew N. Ramsey received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1992 and 1993, respectively, from Mississippi State University. At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Ramsey is a senior systems engineer and serves as systems analysis lead for the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicle. Ramsey, a longtime NASA contractor, also holds the position of vice president of Willbrook Solutions, Inc., a woman-owned small business that provides engineering consulting services to NASA and Department of Defense clients. During his time at Mississippi State, Ramsey pitched for the Bulldogs baseball team and was a member of the 1989 SEC championship team and the 1990 team that won the NCAA South Region and went to the College World Series. Ramsey and his wife, Becky, have four children. He continues to follow Mississippi State sports and also coaches his children’s baseball, basketball and soccer teams.

The Marshall Space Flight Center’s capabilities and experience are essential to nearly every facet of NASA’s mission of exploration and discovery. They currently support ten NASA missions at their Huntsville, Alabama, location.

For more information on NASA’s Marshall Space Center, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html.

The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu.

By: Amanda Meeler