Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Program Manager Allison Barto will receive the Women in Aerospace (WIA) Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions as Ball’s program manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program at the annual Women in Aerospace Awards ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The WIA award is given annually for noteworthy achievement or contributions to a single aerospace project or program that represents a breakthrough or milestone in the aerospace field.
Barto joined Ball Aerospace in 1998 as a systems engineer. As Ball’s program manager for Webb, she leads the team delivering the telescope’s optical assemblies to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In addition to 20 optical assemblies, Ball is developing the cryogenic electronics used to align and phase the optics in flight; cryogenic radiator assemblies; wavefront sensing & control software to determine the motions necessary to phase the telescope in flight; and optical system engineering support. Ball’s work on JWST extends through the optical commissioning of the observatory following launch scheduled for October 2018.
“I am extremely honored that WIA has included me among such an outstanding group of women recognized for their professional contributions,” said Barto. “The James Webb Space Telescope program has allowed me to combine my passion for solving hard problems and my background in astrophysics to a program that is going to expand our knowledge of the universe in ways we can’t predict today.”
Barto is a graduate of Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California. She is one of six honorees to be recognized at the 29th annual WIA awards banquet on Oct. 29. Women in Aerospace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding women’s opportunities for leadership and to increasing their visibility within the aerospace community. www.womeninaerospace.org
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial and international entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/.
Ball Corporation (BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
