Firouz Naderi
Encyclopedia
Firouz Naderi is an Iranian-American
scientist and currently the Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA
's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL). In this role Naderi oversees JPL's robotic solar system missions in planning or development and operating missions, including such currently operating projects as the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, the Dawn spacecraft at the giant asteroid Vesta, JUNO on its way to Jupiter, and GRAIL at Earth's moon. Prior to this new position, he was the Associate Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), responsible for Project Formulation and Strategy, serving as the Laboratory's senior official providing oversight of JPL new business acquisition and was the key strategic planning officer of JPL.
He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering
from USC
(writing his dissertation in the area of digital image processing
) and his B.S. from Iowa State University. He joined JPL in September 1979.
His career at JPL has spanned system engineering, technology development
, and program and project management
for satellite communication
s systems, Earth remote sensing
observatories, astrophysical observatories and planetary systems
He was named head of the Mars Exploration Program at JPL in 2000 after the Program had suffered two consecutive failures. In the summer of 2000 he helped re-plan the Program as a chain of scientifically, technologically and operationally interrelated missions with a spacecraft launch to Mars every two years. He led the Program for the next five years, a span of time that included the successful landing of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit
and Opportunity
.
Before Mars, he managed the Origins program, NASA’s ambitious technology-rich plan, to search for Earth-like planets in other planetary system
s.
His early work at JPL was on system design of large satellite-based systems for nationwide cellular phone coverage. He went to NASA Headquarters for two years in the mid-80s to serve as the program manager for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), the front-runner of today’s multi-beam, space-switching commercial satellites. Upon his return to JPL, he became the project manager for the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) Project aimed at space-based measurement of winds over the global oceans with application to weather forecasting
. He was a co-founder of a startup company in the mid-‘80s and consultant to other startup companies in the same period.
Naderi is active in the Iranian-American community. He is on the board of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) and a trustee of Encyclopædia Iranica.
Iranian-American
Iranian-Americans are Americans of Iranian ancestry or people possessing Iranian and American dual citizenship.Iranian-Americans are amongst the most highly educated groups in the United States...
scientist and currently the Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
(JPL). In this role Naderi oversees JPL's robotic solar system missions in planning or development and operating missions, including such currently operating projects as the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, the Dawn spacecraft at the giant asteroid Vesta, JUNO on its way to Jupiter, and GRAIL at Earth's moon. Prior to this new position, he was the Associate Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), responsible for Project Formulation and Strategy, serving as the Laboratory's senior official providing oversight of JPL new business acquisition and was the key strategic planning officer of JPL.
He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(writing his dissertation in the area of digital image processing
Digital image processing
Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing...
) and his B.S. from Iowa State University. He joined JPL in September 1979.
His career at JPL has spanned system engineering, technology development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
, and program and project management
Project management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
for satellite communication
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
s systems, Earth remote sensing
Earth remote sensing
Earth remote sensing is data collection on the environment, geology, climate, and other characteristics of the Earth by means of sensors positioned in the air or in Earth orbit. Sensors used for this type of data gathering include those covering all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Both...
observatories, astrophysical observatories and planetary systems
He was named head of the Mars Exploration Program at JPL in 2000 after the Program had suffered two consecutive failures. In the summer of 2000 he helped re-plan the Program as a chain of scientifically, technologically and operationally interrelated missions with a spacecraft launch to Mars every two years. He led the Program for the next five years, a span of time that included the successful landing of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit
Spirit rover
Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...
and Opportunity
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...
.
Before Mars, he managed the Origins program, NASA’s ambitious technology-rich plan, to search for Earth-like planets in other planetary system
Planetary system
A planetary system consists of the various non-stellar objects orbiting a star such as planets, dwarf planets , asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and cosmic dust...
s.
His early work at JPL was on system design of large satellite-based systems for nationwide cellular phone coverage. He went to NASA Headquarters for two years in the mid-80s to serve as the program manager for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), the front-runner of today’s multi-beam, space-switching commercial satellites. Upon his return to JPL, he became the project manager for the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) Project aimed at space-based measurement of winds over the global oceans with application to weather forecasting
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
. He was a co-founder of a startup company in the mid-‘80s and consultant to other startup companies in the same period.
Naderi is active in the Iranian-American community. He is on the board of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) and a trustee of Encyclopædia Iranica.
Awards and honors
- Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
- 2010 recipient of the William Randolph Lovelace II Award from the American Astronautical Society (AAS)
- 2005 recipient of Ellis Island Medal of Honor
- 2004 winner of the Liberal Prize
- NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal
- Space Technology Hall of Fame Medal and
- NASA’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Medal.
External links
- Naderi on JPL website
- Andisheh Don Bosco College Tehran Andisheh - Don Bosco College in Iran Students & Faculty members Network.