Webinar: Unveiling the Universe: How NASA's James Webb Telescope Changed Our Understanding of Space by Access Intelligence, LLC

Unveiling the Universe: How NASA's James Webb Telescope Changed Our Understanding of Space

About

NASA's James Webb Telescope has captivated the public with incredible discoveries that include dying stars, distant galaxies, and signs of life on other planets. In this episode, we explore the history of the James Webb project, its journey to space, its breakthrough findings, and potential follow-up programs that could build on its success.

60-minute webinar

Presenters

Jeffrey Hill

Executive Editor, Via Satellite

Scott Willoughby

Vice President of Program Excellence, Northrop Grumman

Scott P. Willoughby is the vice president of Program Excellence for Northrop Grumman corporation and oversees responsibility for program execution processes and the non-advocate review process.

In his prior role he was the sector vice president of Program Excellence for Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems sector, a premier provider of space and launch systems serving national security, civil and commercial customers. In that role, Willoughby oversees sector-level program management and mission assurance strategy.

He also has served as the vice president and program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful observatory and NASA’s flagship science mission. Built in partnership with Northrop Grumman, Willoughby oversaw all aspects of the program, to include total systems integration, design, development, and delivery.

Willoughby served in positions of increasing responsibility across his 35-year career with Northrop Grumman involving financial and contract management, testing, integration, production and management in various programs including P858 Advanced Concepts & Emerging Systems, Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF), and Milstar. He also served as director for Integration, Test & Launch (IT&L), within the Production and Supply Chain (PSC) organization, led PSC’s Production Control Directorate where he supported both commercial and military satellite communications systems, and was the lead systems engineer on MAPSTAR. Willoughby was hired in 1989 as a member of the technical staff of TRW, a heritage Northrop Grumman company.

Willoughby received a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and a master’s degree in communication systems from the University of Southern California. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Executive Education Program at the Anderson School of Management. He is also the recipient of NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, its highest honor for non-government personnel, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day.

Dr. Bhanu Sood

Deputy Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Technology development is a critical part of the work we do at Goddard and enables future missions and discoveries.

Dr. Bhanu Sood leads NASA Goddard's Internal Research and Development program, strategically investing in transformative technologies critical to NASA's future missions and advancement of the US space industry. As Deputy Chief Technologist, he champions the infusion of innovative aerospace technologies, next generation instruments leveraging quantum sciences, artificial intelligence, autonomy, space optical communication, edge computing and other investments in space systems as well as establishes strategic partnerships with universities, government laboratories, and industry partners. His leadership ensures NASA maintains its competitive edge through strategic technology development and successful commercialization pathways.

Dr. Sood’s other roles at NASA have included Division Chief Engineer, Agency Program Manager for Training, and the Risk Assessment process owner for microelectronics in JWST, RST, PACE/OCI, JPSS, GOES, ICESAT-2, TESS, LUCY, ILLUMA-T, ICON, IXPE, LandSat-9/TIRS, along with numerous smallsat and constrained missions.

Prior to joining NASA, Dr. Sood served as the Laboratory Director at University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering. Here, Dr. Sood led efforts to accelerate US leadership in semiconductors, developed partnerships with global electronics industry participants across a complex ecosystem of microelectronics supply chains, chip fabricators, fabless companies, packaging, designers and tool manufacturers, to target increased reliability for OEMs in telecom, healthcare equipment, energy, automotive, aerospace, cybersecurity, and defense industries. Previously, he developed laser-based 3-D printing processes and materials for microelectronics at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington DC.

In addition to numerous NASA project awards and accolades, Dr. Sood was awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and Robert H. Goddard Award for on-orbit anomaly resolution methodologies, SAE International’s ESC Outstanding Achievement Award, and NRL’s Edison Patent Award. He holds six patents, is an IPC Fellow, IEEE senior member, a board member of ASM International, and holds a doctorate in electronics reliability, masters degrees in metallurgy and materials science, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Full name*

Email Address*

Job Title*

Company Name*

Company Type*

Phone Number*

Country*

Postal/Zip Code*