Peck

Mason Peck, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been named NASA's chief technologist, effective January 2012. Peck will serve as the agency's principal adviser and advocate on matters of technology policy and programs.

Peck leads several Cornell spacecraft research programs including CUSat, an in-orbit inspection system consisting of a pair of twin satellites designed and built at Cornell. CUSat is scheduled to launch in 2013 on a Falcon 9 rocket through the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite Program.

Peck also is principal investigator of the Violet satellite experiment, also a Cornell-built system that will provide an orbiting test bed for investigating better commercial Earth-imaging satellites. Violet carries an ultraviolet spectrometer that will be used as a precursor to understanding exoplanet atmospheres.

In his NASA role, Peck will help communicate how NASA technologies benefit space missions and the day-to-day lives of Americans. The office coordinates, tracks and integrates technology investments across the agency and works to infuse innovative discoveries into future missions.

In addition, Peck will lead NASA technology transfer and technology commercialization efforts, facilitate internal creativity and innovation, and work directly with other government agencies, the commercial aerospace community and academia.

Peck will serve in the position through an intergovernmental personnel agreement with Cornell, where he will continue as a faculty member.

At Cornell, Peck's work focuses on spacecraft dynamics, control and mission architectures. His research includes microscale flight dynamics, gyroscopic robotics and magnetically controlled spacecraft, most of which have been demonstrated on NASA microgravity flights.

He has worked with NASA as an engineer on a variety of technology programs, including the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts sponsored his academic research in modular spacecraft architectures and propellant-less propulsion, and the International Space Station currently hosts his research group's flight experiment in microchip-sized spacecraft.

As an engineer and consultant in the aerospace industry, he has worked with organizations including Boeing, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Goodrich and Lockheed Martin. He has authored 82 academic articles and holds 17 patents in the U.S. and European Union.

Peck earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of California- Los Angeles as a Howard Hughes fellow and a master's degree in English literature from the University of Chicago.