Mr. Bill Ochs of Retired from NASA

Bill Ochs will talk about how he went from being an undergraduate student at Fairleigh Dickinson University to managing the design, construction, launch, and the on-orbit operations of the largest observatory to ever be launched into space, the James Webb Space Telescope. Bill will also discuss some of the challenges which had to be overcome on the road to mission success and show some of the latest space images. Failure was simply not an option for the James Webb Telescope!

Biography:

Bill Ochs has 40+ years of experience in the aerospace field.  He has worked in both the private industry and for NASA. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (EE) degree and an MSEE degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Masters in Operations Research degree from the George Washington University. His career has spanned from starting as an engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope to retiring from NASA in 2022 after spending the last 12 years of his career as the Project Manager of the James Webb Space Telescope.  He had more than 24 years of experience as a project manager for NASA.  Bill has been the recipient of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, Space Flight Awareness Honoree Award, NASA Honor Award for Outstanding Leadership, Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Leadership, NASA Distinguish Service Medal, and most recently the co-recipient of the Mani L. Bhaumik Science Breakthrough of the Year Award presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Address:United States