Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. program manager Lisa Hardaway, PhD will receive this year’s Leadership Award for outstanding dedication to space exploration from the Women in Aerospace (WIA) professional organization during its 30th annual awards ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015.
Hardaway joined Ball Aerospace in 1995 and was most recently the program manager for Ball’s Ralph imaging instrument that flew aboard NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto, returning the closest images ever seen of the dwarf planet on July 14. She also has a long relationship with the Hubble Space Telescope, having worked on three Ball-built instruments including Wide Field Camera 3, the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In addition, Hardaway was part of Ball’s Deep Impact mission and worked on the company’s star tracker program.
“Since joining the company Lisa has distinguished herself on our space science programs and also helped advance the careers of fellow engineers who have benefitted from her knowledge and enthusiasm,” said Rob Strain, president of Ball Aerospace.
The WIA Awards celebrate women’s professional excellence in aerospace, annually recognizing female leaders who have made outstanding contributions to the aerospace community. WIA acknowledged Hardaway not only for her leadership skills, but for also guiding, supporting, and mentoring female engineers throughout her career.
“Coming on the heels of the successful New Horizons mission, the WIA leadership award is icing on the cake and a wonderful level of recognition,” said Hardaway. “There are so many women in the aerospace industry making significant breakthroughs and contributions, I am honored to be in their company and selected for this award.”
In 2013, Hardaway was elected Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She has also received the Woman of Achievement award from Boulder’s Zonta Foothill Chapter and a Ball Aerospace Engineering Excellence award. Hardaway earned her PhD from the University of Colorado–Boulder in 2000, her M.S. from Stanford University in 1989, and her B.S. from MIT in 1988. She is a member of AAS, AIAA, ABET and the University of Colorado’s Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences External Advisory Board.
Hardaway will be one of 10 honorees recognized in 2015 by WIA, 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 entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. Ball continues to invest and innovate in affordable, high resolution imaging systems, contributing to the needs of civil, military and commercial customers. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/.
Ball Corporation (NYSE: 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 2014 sales of $8.6 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.
