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Top Management Night
featuring Lee Solid,
“Advancing the State of Space”
and Mark Jager, Silver Knight of Leadership
Award Recipient
click
for event photos
Top Management Night was held
on June 15, 2009 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Cocoa
Beach, Florida. The evening began with networking
among the attendees followed by an interesting presentation
of “Advancing the State of Space” from Lee Solid, retired
Senior Executive of Rockwell’s Space Operations in Florida
and a presentation of the 2009 Silver Knight of Leadership
Award to Mark Jager, Checkout, Assembly and Payload
Processing Services (CAPPS) Program Manager at NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Mr. Solid
had the audience in awe as he recounted many of his exciting
adventures throughout his 39-year career in the aerospace
business, as well as his current service on a number of
space related advisory committees and boards.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Solid was responsible for
overseeing all Company operations at KSC and the Cape
Canaveral Air Station (CCAS), including Space Shuttle
Orbiter launch processing engineering, as well as payloads
and flight systems integration. This also included the
manufacture, repair and testing of Shuttle hardware at the
company’s Depot in Cape Canaveral.
Mr. Solid’s many years of contribution to the Space Program
has been recognized by numerous NASA and Aerospace awards.
Included are 3 Public Service medals, one for Atlas-Mercury,
one for Apollo 11, and one for the Space Shuttle. He also
received the prestigious Debus Award for Aerospace
Excellence, the ASME’s Engineering Achievement Award, the
NMA’s Gold Knight Award for Management, the JA’s Spirit of
Achievement Award and a number of others. He has been
recognized in the community for service in the fields of
education technology, economic development, and space
advocacy.
The meeting went on to Mark Jager, CAPPS Program Manager,
being presented with the prestigious 2009 Silver Knight of
Leadership Award. This is the highest award NMA chapters
can bestow upon an outstanding executive.
Mark and his team are responsible for program execution,
maintaining effective customer relations, support for the
final assembly of various payloads including the
International Space Station elements, and integration
testing of these payloads to the Space Shuttle.
In 2000, Mark received the NASA Public Service Medal, an
award that recognizes exceptional contributions to the
mission of NASA. In 2008, Mark received the NASA
Distinguished Public Service Medal for sustained standard of
excellence as the Program Manager for Checkout, Assembly,
and Payload Processing Services. He is on the Board for the
Florida National Space Club Committee, a member of the
Boeing Space Coast Leadership Association, volunteers for
Meals on Wheels, and donates to many charitable
organizations within the community.
Dinner that evening was a scrumptious choice of boneless
Chicken Crimini Mushroom or Jumbo Shrimp stuffed with Island
Crab and dessert was either Carrot Cake or Chocolate Cake.
Joe Herron was the mystery handshaker, with the number 15
selected and David Otero was the lucky 15th
person to shake Joe’s hand. David won $20, which he
don ated to the BSCLA scholarship fund. Lea Ann Wojcieszak
won the 50/50 raffle with a grand total of $25.
Article written by Lea Ann Wojcieszak, BSCLA
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