David E. Beaman has been appointed to the federal Senior Executive Service and named manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project, Shuttle Propulsion Office, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The Senior Executive Service is the personnel system covering top managerial positions in approximately 75 federal agencies.
In his new position, Beaman oversees the project responsible for the planning, budgeting, scheduling, engineering design and development, integration, test, evaluation, and launch operations of the space shuttle reusable solid rocket boosters. During a space shuttle launch, the two solid rocket boosters generate 85 percent of the necessary thrust in the first two minutes of flight and host the largest solid propellant rockets ever flown.
The Marshall Center has been at the forefront of American’s space propulsion challenges since the development of the Saturn V rocket that delivered the first men to the moon – and continues to use its expertise to safely fly the space shuttle until its retirement in 2010.
Beaman joined NASA in 2000 and has held several technical and leadership positions in the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project office. He served as team leader of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Engineering and Integration office from December 2002 to September 2004; assistant manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project office from September 2004 to March 2005; and deputy project manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project office from March 2005 to January 2007. When the Solid Rocket Booster and Solid Rocket Motor Project offices merged in January 2007, he was appointed deputy manager in the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project office and served in that position until his recent appointment.
During his NASA career, Beaman has led several high profile activities, including the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor for Space Shuttle Program Return to Flight activities and the transition of the Booster Separation Motor.
Prior to joining NASA in 2000, Beaman worked for Technology Development Corporation of Huntsville, Ala., from 1989 to 1990, supporting U.S. Army military research and development programs at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. In 1990, he accepted a position with United Technology’s USBI Company in Huntsville, and later with United Space Alliance in Huntsville, where he worked on the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor Program and in the Solid Rocket Booster Project.
Beaman earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1990 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
He has received numerous awards throughout his NASA career, including the NASA Medal for Exceptional Achievement in July 2004. He was a Space Flight Awareness honoree in July 2005 for his dedication to quality work and flight safety and has received several special service and group achievement awards. He has completed the Marshall Space Flight center Leadership Development Series, an education program that focuses on building leadership skills, has achieved contracting officer’s technical representative certification and Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team certification.
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