Individual and team performance excellence recognized at 2nd quarter Silver BEAR Awards

December 8, 2022: The recipients of the prestigious Silver BEAR (Barrios Employee Award and Recognition) Awards have been announced by Barrios for the 2022 2nd quarter. Two teams and four individuals were selected and recognized for their outstanding performance supporting Barrios’ contracts with NASA’s Human Space Flight program.

Known as the ISS Benefits for Humanity Revision Team, nine members of the Human Spaceflight Technical Integration Control (HSFTIC) communications team were recognized for their efforts in the production and release of the ISS Benefits for Humanity (B4H) 4th Edition publication. This important publication from the NASA ISS Research Integration team highlights global benefits of the science performed on the ISS. Published every two years for the public and ISS International Partners (IPs), the team set out to modernize, digitize, and streamline it to increase its ability to influence how legislators, scientists, and the international public perceive the space station. Tracy Parr and Erin Anthony led the team, with new team member Christine Giraldo adding her expertise. Melissa Gaskill wrote a significant number of brand-new stories, requiring many hours of research and interviews, and worked with Erin and Carrie Gilder to edit and craft the narratives of each story. An amazing new cover designed by Chris Getteau, along with a modern layout, was utterly transformative with a distinct wow factor. To modernize the online presence and digital version of the publication, Roger Weiss and Ana Guzman worked together to ensure the team’s strategy aligned with the new NASA.gov website redesign. This resulted in a digital-friendly product able to reach a much wider and diverse audience. Video was added by Nicole Rose to make the product shine online and in social media.

Duane Radicioni, Roger Weiss (recipient), Erin Anthony (recipient), Chris Getteau (recipient), Mary Lins, Kelly Page, Mark Polansky, Chelsey Bussey, and Debbie Sharp

The six-member Crew Time Tracking Tool (CTTT) Development Team were recognized for their outstanding efforts in developing a new critical crew time tracking tool to replace a decade old legacy application. Members Jill Holm (Barrios); Leslie Laws (Barrios); Nik Ponomarev (ARES); Sarah Sabayrac (ARES); Dianna Smith (ARES); and Jason Vos (Barrios), worked to produce a new tool that houses historical data in one location and allows Crew Time Engineers (CTEs) to perform their day-to-day job more efficiently with new capabilities and improve automated functions, which not only makes reporting more efficient but also provides CTEs and NASA with increased capability in viewing data more comprehensively.

Jason Vos (recipient), Dianna Smith (recipient), Kelly Page, Jill Holm (recipient), Chelsey Bussey, Sarah Sabayrac (recipient), Nik Ponomarev (recipient), and Denise Skyles

Joe Aldape, Bill Kowalczyk (recipient), Kelly Page, and Chelsey Bussey

William (Bill) Kowalczyk, Systems Engineer for Gateway on HSFTIC, received his award for coordinating and executing the systems level Preliminary Design Reviews for the Gateway Vehicle Systems Integration (VSI) organization. Bill completed the scheduling of around 30 separate reviews in a four-month period using his integration experience as an increment engineer and as a Gateway product integrator to bring together the dozens of disciplines that VSI is responsible for and to ensure that all reviews were held in a timely manner.

Geeta Reddy, Vehicle Integration Engineer for the Space Station Program on HSFTIC, was acknowledged for her excellent work while taking on three additional responsibilities over the past year. When unexpected staffing changes occurred within the Test, Verification, and Integration (TVI) team, she willingly stepped in to cover several key roles. In addition to her primary role as the SpaceX Cargo Vehicle Integration Engineer, Geeta also became the Cygnus Integration Engineer, the TVI team lead, and simultaneously trained two new team members.

By filling key coverage gaps, she enabled uninterrupted service to NASA’s customers for both the SpaceX and Cygnus cargo vehicles, from whom she has received stellar commendations.

Project Coordinator (PC), Elizabeth Fancher (right), has been recognized for her superior work on NASA’s Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) project within the Science and Technology Directorate. IMPACT works to improve existing processes and develop best practices that maximize effectiveness and efficiency. Elizabeth spearheaded the revamping efforts to aggregate the IMPACT project tracking, updates, and milestones into the internet hosting service, GitHub, as well as streamline the Space Act Agreement process. She was instrumental in establishing a Scaled Agile Framework, which is now used by all ten mission projects within the IMPACT portfolio. Elizabeth also expertly manages all reporting requirements to NASA Headquarters and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama.

John Rowan, Senior Information Technology Manager for the Space launch System (SLS) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), receives the Silver BEAR Award for his vital support to NASA system users during the pandemic. John supported the transition to telework during a critical time in the SLS Program allowing team members to continue making progress while working remotely. He worked to get users up and running with Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Microsoft Teams, audio telecoms, and Cisco Webex. His ability to meet users needs while balancing IT costs has been paramount to the SLS Program. Furthermore, as a principal player in keeping Program Management informed of IT updates, policies, and issues, he has enabled them to make informed decisions in a timely manner – critical to maintaining the efficiency of the SLS Program.

The BEAR Awards Program recognizes superior performance and outstanding support of customer and company goals. Each quarter, outstanding employees are selected to receive the Silver Award. Silver award winners automatically qualify for the annual Gold award, which is presented at an annual awards and recognition reception.