The 10 Phase I grant projects were completed in January, 2005, whereupon there was a downselect competition and three Phase II follow-on grants were issued. At the end of June, 2006, CPMR conducted a mid-course review of the two-year Phase II research projects. Based on solid performance, they have each been renewed for the second year, and a fourth university project was awarded a single year of funding.
- CPMR conducted a successful mid-term peer review of the Phase II research projects.
- CPMR-funded PI, Dr. Nancy Leveson created a safety risk analysis model for the NASA/ITA, identifying important risks, distinguishing leading indicators of increasing risk – indicating drift toward accidents, and suggesting structural changes. Dr. Leveson has also been tasked to develop a similar model for ESMD.
- CPMR has also begun planning implementation elements of the new APPEL initiative: PDTE, or Professional Development for Technical Excellence.
- CPMR is collaborating with NASA/GSFC to respond to a need to develop a more systematic process for how to train new NASA Project Scientists.
- CPMR is working with APPEL/TK Brady in supporting an MIT systems engineering research task to define NASA systems engineering and workforce development needs.
- CPMR-funded PI, Tim Kotnour successfully completed his assessment of KSC’s GOES-N Lessons Learned review process. He has also recruited GSFC Knowledge Capture lead, Ed Rogers, to serve as a collaborator for the follow-on phase of his research to be consolidated at Goddard.
- CPMR and seven of the PIs supported the special issue of the Engineering Management Journal’s December, 2005 Special Issue, entitled, “NASA/USRA Center for Program/Project Management Research,” which presented an overview of the various research projects sponsored under the APPEL/USRA research program.
- CPMR is working directly with Knowledge Sharing lead, Tina Chindgren, in the development of a Masters of Technical Excellence Forum and has helped establish a strawman plan and list of candidate speakers.
A recent Goal of the collaboration between NASA/APPEL and USRA/CPMR is to facilitate university involvement in the new NASA Professional Development for Technical Excellence (PDTE) initiative, which is seen as critical to the successful execution of the Vision for Space Exploration. This activity has included various facets, including: the identification of workforce development requirements of systems engineering at JSC and the establishment of course offerings to meet these needs; planning with GSFC to develop a workforce development program to help develop the next generation of NASA project scientists and PIs; and assisting APPEL with the creation of the MTE and assisting in the MIT systems engineering research effort.
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