| [November 18, 2008] |
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NASA UAV Test Pilot; Distinguished Astronaut; Two Technology Investors
Join Astrobotic Technology Board Of Directors
PITTSBURGH --(Business Wire)--
Astrobotic Technology Inc., which will pioneer the lunar frontier with
commercial robotic services, today announced that four leading space and
management experts have been elected to its Board of Directors.
"Together, these new board members span an enormous range of talents,"
said Astrobotic CEO John Kohut, formerly a senior space manager at
Raytheon Co. "Their backgrounds include top corporate management,
investments and start-ups, senior NASA leadership, robotics and
international relations experience."
The company's chairman, Dr. William "Red" Whittaker, is founder of the
Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon University and is directing the
development of the firm's first lunar robot, which has been undergoing
field trials for several months. The company's first mission, to win the
$20 million Google Lunar X prize and respectfully visit Apollo 11 with
HD video, is set for May 2010.
Astrobotic is collaborating with Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute,
which is adapting many of its existing robotic vision, navigation and
locomotion technologies to the lunar challenge.
The newly elected board members are:
Dr. Khalid Al-Ali
Dr. Khalid Al-Ali of Palo Alto, Calif., a native of Qatar, is the
principal investigator, project lead, and program visionary for key
projects funded by the NASA Ames Research Center and NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratories (JPL). His expertise is projects involving advanced
spacecraft control systems, intelligent avionics, novel power systems,
planetary rovers and robots, and spacecraft for Lunar, Martian, and
Antarctic missions. In addition, he serves as the principal test pilot
for unmanned aerial vehicles for NASA Ames' Intelligent Avionics
program. He founded the Carnegie Mellon Innovations Lab and directs its
activities to create compact, highly capable mobile autonomous vehicles
covering ground, air and space operations. As director of research at
Carnegie Mellon University's Silicon Valley campus in Moffett Field, CA,
he oversees scientists and engineers conducting multidisciplinary
award-winning research. He is also the president and CEO of Senseta, a
robotic sentry and patrol platform provider for the space automaton and
security industry.
Dr. Al-Ali received a royal appointment in Qatar to develop the Qatar
Science and Technology Park Project (QSTP) in Education City. Dr. Al-Ali
was also the advisor to the Board of Directors and reported to Their
Royal Highnesses the ruler of Qatar and his consort.
Also by royal appointment, Dr. Al-Ali was a member of both the Qatar
National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy
Committee and the Qatar National ICT Implementation Committee. He has
been involved with scientific and research endeavors with General
Electric Medical Systems, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and
University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Al-Ali holds a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering from
the University of California at Berkeley.
Paul C. O'Brien
Paul C. O'Brien of Boston brings more than 40 years experience in the
telecommunications and information technology industry with an extensive
background in information systems, project management, technical
marketing. Mr. O'Brien is the president of the O'Brien Group, a
technology investment and consulting firm. He also serves as the
president of Pan-Asia Development, an investment firm pursuing
opportunities in Asia.
Mr. O'Brien is the former CEO and chairman of the board of New England
Telephone after having served as executive vice president at New York
Telephone. Earlier in his career he worked for GE and served in the US
Air Force. Mr. O'Brien currently sits on a variety of boards of both
private and public companies. He holds a BS in electrical engineering
from Manhattan College and an MBA from New York University. He has
received three honorary doctorates.
Paul F. Pelosi Jr.
Paul Pelosi Jr., of San Francisco, has more than 15 years experience in
advising emerging and Fortune 500 companies in the areas of finance,
infrastructure, sustainability and public policy. Mr. Pelosi serves as
an advisor to a several institutions including NASA Ames Research Center
and AirPatrol Corporation on a variety of infrastructure projects to
promote both sustainable development and security.
Prior to independent consulting, Mr. Pelosi served many years with
InfoUSA Corporation, Bank of America Securities, Bank of America
Countrywide and JP Morgan - Chase Manhattan where he worked in corporate
finance, institutional sales and the mortgage industry. In 2001, Mr.
Pelosi was appointed by Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. to the San Francisco
Commission on the Environment. Many of the Commission's goals have been
realized, including partnerships with utilities to implement energy
efficiency programs resulting in a reduction of 28 megawatts in
electricity. San Francisco also has increased residential and commercial
recycling from 46% to 70%, reduced carbon emissions to 6% below 1990
levels, and is the first municipality to implement a ban on plastic bags.
Mr. Pelosi is also a founding member of Cisco Connected Urban
Development. Under the direction of Cisco CEO John Chambers, he works
with several cities including San Francisco, Birmingham, Amsterdam,
Hamburg, Lisbon, Madrid and Seoul to demonstrate how network
connectivity reduces carbon emissions.
Mr. Pelosi holds three degrees from Georgetown University: a Bachelor of
Arts in History (Cum Laude, 1991), a Juris Doctorate with an emphasis in
International Business, and a Masters in Business Administration.
William F. Readdy
Mr. Readdy of McLean, Va., is founder and managing partner of Discovery
Partners International, specializing in global space development and
aerospace program management. He has three decades of experience across
a broad range of aerospace specialties. He previously served as the NASA
Associate Administrator for Space Operations, an astronaut, a Naval
aviator and a test pilot.
As a veteran pilot astronaut, Mr. Readdy made three space flights,
STS-42 (January 22-30, 1992), STS-51 (September 12-22, 1993) and STS-79
(September 16-26, 1996).
At NASA, his assignments included serving as the agency's director of
operations at Star City, Russia, where astronauts and cosmonauts train
for launch aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles. He served at NASA as Associate
Administrator for Space Operations with more than $6 billion budget
authority, and oversight for the Kennedy, Johnson, Marshall and Stennis
Space Centers as well as programmatic oversight for International Space
Station (ISS), Space Shuttle, Space Communications and Space Launch
Vehicles.
Mr. Readdy is the recipient of the Presidential Rank award, two NASA
Distinguished Service medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross and holds
the rank of Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Society of
Experimental Test Pilots. He is also an academician of the International
Academy of Astronautics.
Readdy serves on the board of directors of Spachab/Astrotech, Corp. and
also serves as chairman of the board of the Challenger Center for Space
Science Education.
The other members of the Astrobotic board are Mr. Kohut, David Gump,
Mitchell London and Dr. Whittaker.
About Astrobotic Technology
The company was formed in fall 2007 and has secured lunar contracts from
NASA and two commercial firms. Prototype rovers are now being
field-tested at Carnegie Mellon University by Dr. William "Red"
Whittaker, the firm's chairman. Prototype landing platforms have been
constructed by Raytheon Co., using the company's proven digital terrain
matching technologies to achieve precision landings on the Moon. Mission
planning and camera expertise is provided by the Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory at The University of Arizona. More information is available
at www.astrobotictech.com.
About Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university located in Pittsburgh,
Pa. Its Robotics Institute, a division of the School of Computer
Science, is one of the world's largest robotics research and education
institutions, with pioneering programs in field robotics, autonomous
navigation and computer vision. The most recent of its many
NASA-sponsored projects is a prototype lunar prospecting robot. Its
teams have been successful in competitive robot contests, including the
2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. For more, see www.ri.cmu.edu.
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