Process Development Support
APPEL process engineers use an incremental, step-wise approach when assisting NASA Centers, support functions, projects and other organizational entities in the development and improvement of processes.
Adherence to Appropriate Process Standards
Once an understanding of the process needs is clearly identified and agreed to, a technical review is performed using appropriate NASA process standards and requirements, as well as industry best practices to identify process gaps and deficiencies. Using the findings from the technical review, APPEL process engineers work with the organizational entity to create a process development and implementation plan with schedule that best satisfies their process needs and priorities based on available resources.
Creating Unique Program Processes
APPEL process engineers are experts in the development of processes that satisfy the requirements of standards such as NPR 7120.5D and NPR 7123.1A, as well as identified business needs. They have assisted in process development at various NASA Centers by working directly with project personnel, sharing lessons learned, and providing actual examples of effective processes that are currently in use within NASA.
Process Implementation and Deployment
As processes are implemented in accordance with the plan, APPEL process engineers assist in piloting activities and develop and provide process training as needed. In addition, at appropriate stages of implementation, they will conduct interim milestone reviews to assess the effectiveness of deployed processes. APPEL process engineers help establish an infrastructure and measurements that foster continued improvement of the processes in use.
Benefits
- Business needs and processes identified
- Process gaps and deficiencies identified and resolved
- NASA Standards and Industry Best Practices consistently implemented
- Process effectiveness assessed and understood
- Clear path to process maturity identified
Mentoring and Coaching
APPEL’s Mentoring and Coaching activities provide the NASA project community with extensive resources to enhance project performance or to address project management challenges before they threaten project success while offering to strengthen individual skills.
Agreed-upon coaching or mentoring activities are designed to achieve identified specific individualized goals confidentially while supporting specific work site requirements over a defined time period.
Mentoring and Coaching Services
Subject matter experts are available for short notice support to offer confidential mentoring or coaching support in a wide variety of specialties. SME’s offer both technical and managerial expertise to function as technical advisors to explore innovative solutions to complex issues. The goal of these services is to tap the deep reservoir of knowledge and experience across NASA to capture proven methods and avoid less than optimal results.
Participants will receive quick reaction services to support on going projects to foster individualized knowledge transfer specifically related to work site issues. APPEL SME’s average over 25 years of technical experience and 15 years of mentoring and coaching experience.
Services include support for:
- Identifying a projects strategic and tactical opportunities
- Using technical Performance Measures as a control response
- Creating action plans with checklists and templates
- Developing assessment metrics
- Software management including cost estimating and earned value
- Planning and scheduling
- Requirements and architecture development
- Process development Integration
Technical Training and Workshops
APPEL’s technical training and workshop support programs enable project teams and individuals to produce high-quality results in the short term, using learning outcomes from technical training programs that improve performance and through workshops that better prepare teams for producing required artifacts.
Technical Training
In Technical Training, APPEL provides training to project teams that prepares individuals and project teams to deliver the right technical solution on time and on budget. Instructors assist teams to conceptualize a broader set of topics to ensure success through tailored exercises to allow teams to plan for the generation of specific artifacts. Training programs are typically 2 – 5 days in length.
Workshops
APPEL provided workshops are designed to facilitate a team production of a specific artifact or set of artifacts or to allow teams to plan the development of those artifacts. APPEL is prepared to provide a 72-hour turn-around on workshop request in certain circumstances should teams require.
Services include workshops for:
- Formulation Phase Planning
- Requirements Development
- Project Plan Development
- Decision Making
- Work Breakdown Schedule Development
- Cost Estimating
- Program Control Areas
- Integrated Baseline Review
- Risk Management
Diagnostic and Planning Services
APPEL’s Diagnostic and Planning support programs enable project teams to review and evaluate all aspects of the project plan to provide active management in areas that need support. Our assessment techniques and approach provide quantifiable, objective information on individuals and teams, providing baselines for measuring improvement.
During Diagnostic and Planning, APPEL’s Project Support consultants assess and diagnose needs and provide services including:
Technical Training and Workshops
APPEL’s technical training and workshop support programs enable project teams and individuals to produce high-quality results in the short term, using learning outcomes from technical training programs that improve performance and through workshops that better prepare teams for producing required artifacts.
Process Development
APPEL process engineers use an incremental, step-wise approach when assisting NASA Centers, support functions, projects and other organizational entities in the development and improvement of processes.
Mentoring and Coaching
APPEL’s Mentoring and Coaching activities provide the NASA project community with extensive resources to enhance project performance or to address project management challenges before they threaten project success while offering to strengthen individual skills.
Agreed-upon coaching or mentoring activities are designed to achieve identified specific individualized goals confidentially while supporting specific work site requirements over a defined time period.
Services include project/team support for:
- Assessing team performance and internal processes
- Defining the activities necessary to achieve project/team objectives
- Integrating the right support at the right time to ensure program success
- Identification of artifacts needed to meet team objectives
Masters Forum 16
Graphics
Our graphics facilitator created visual representations of individual presentations, panel discussions, and group dialogue. The visualizations helped communicate the thematic messages emerging throughout the sessions. Special thanks to Nora Herting of Synesthesia Graphics.
Overview: Harvesting Knowledge
Ed Hoffman, Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
Katrina Pugh and Debra Lavell, Intel Corporation
Opening Remarks and Introductions
Ed Hoffman, Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
A Tale of Two Missions: Balancing Risks with Innovation
Todd May, NASA Headquarters
NASA’s Culture and Change: Lessons from History
Stephen B. Johnson, Marshall Space Flight Center
Howard E. McCurdy, American University
Mission Ready: Driving Change at Glenn and Ames
Don Cohen, ASK Magazine
Jeffrey McCandless, Ames Research Center
Robert W. Moorehead, Glenn Research Center
The Astronaut Glove Challenge and Other Projects: Big Innovation from Small Teams
Peter Homer, winner of the NASA Astronaut Glove Centennial Challenge Award
Peter Lord, Island Astronomy Institute
Area 1 Upper Stage: Lessons from an "In-House" Design Project
Chip Jones, Marshall Space Flight Center
Videos
Masters Forum 15
| Video Summaries | Video Links | |
|---|---|---|
Helping Quintuplets Leave the Nest |  Click to Play Video | |
Frank Snow, Goddard Space Flight Center As project manager for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), Frank Snow encountered many challenges developing, testing, and operating the multisatellite mission. This presentation discusses the necessity of a risk management process and detailed resource-loaded scheduling to quickly identify and resolve multiple issues. 44 minutes running time | ||
NASA’s Culture and Change: Lessons from History | Click to Play Video | |
Stephen B. Johnson, Marshall Space Flight Center/University of Colorado Stephen B. Johnson and Howard E. McCurdy describe the motives and issues leading to the managerial innovations developed at the start of the space program by the U.S. Air Force, by the U.S. Army’s (later NASA’s) Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Army Ballistic Missile Agency (later Marshall Space Flight Center), and in the human space flight program through Apollo. 1 hour running time | ||
Hitchhike to Titan: The Cassini-Huygens Project | Click to Play Video | |
Shaun Standley, Jet Propulsion Laboratory In 2001, three European Space Agency (ESA) engineers were sent to join the Cassini team at JPL to help implement changes needed when unexpected data loss between Cassini and the Huygens probe was discovered during testing. Shaun Standley shares his story as one of those ESA engineers. 1 hour running time | ||
The Astronaut Glove Challenge and Other ProjectsBig Innovation from Small Teams | Click to Play Video | |
Peter K. Homer, NASA Astronaut Glove Centennial Challenge Winner In many projects, seemingly impossible technical goals were exceeded, and insurmountable problems solved, by small teams working with limited resources. Peter Homer and Peter Lord—two "hands-on" engineers—share their personal stories as they expose and elaborate upon the common themes that emerge as enablers to highly innovative and successful development teams. 1 hour running time | ||
Course Description
Management of Space Technology Programs (APPEL-MSTP)
Audience
This course is designed for NASA project practitioners and systems engineers, technical professionals at the supervisory level, and project leaders.
Goal
This three-day course examines the dynamics of organizational management at NASA. Participants will examine these dynamics at the technical, organizational and political level-of-analysis. The interrelationships among these levels influence program/project management processes and outcomes that determine whether implementation of complex space projects is met with success or failure. Participants will learn how NASA project practitioners and systems engineers dealing with systems integration work navigate between the development of complex space technology to achieve technical excellence and specific operational methods, namely systems management practices, project management, and systems engineering, is explored.
Learning Methods
Learning will take place through critical analysis of case studies that demonstrate management dynamics relevant to NASA. This is accomplished by distilling from real-life cases the different issues that demonstrate both successes and failures at NASA. The themes highlighted in the key topics address the issues that are discussed in this course. The time period covered in the course spans the history of NASA from the Apollo era to the current Vision for Space Exploration.
Specific Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe how political and organizational factors influence the project lifecycle, individual performance on project teams, and technical excellence.
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of operational methods—systems management practices, project management, and systems engineering—as applied to the management of risk, and uncertainty in planning, schedule, and cost controls.
- Explain the organizational variables that impact the management of complex projects, which focuses on technical excellence (i.e., high-reliability and high-performance) across project development and implementation.
- Demonstrate how decision-making structures, involving centralization and decentralization, and organizational cultures impact the planning, organization, and implementation of complex projects, and the capabilities for dealing with complexity.
- Apply strategic planning techniques to address elements of decision-making for complex projects.
- Realize a level of organizational awareness as to how to navigate between the political, organizational, and technical levels associated with complex technical projects.
- Demonstrate how accountability practices rooted in project controls, operational methods, and procedures influence the management of complex projects.
Course Description
Design for Manufacturability and Assembly (APPEL-DMA)
Audience
This three-day course is designed for NASA’s technical workforce that is involved in the design, manufacture and assembly of NASA’s major programs and hardware.
Goal
This is a course in Design for Manufacture (DFM). This course will provide students with the skills and insight necessary to design mechanisms, devices, and structural that can be produced quickly, at high quality, and cost effectively.
Learning Methods
Learning methods include a variety of standard lecture with visuals, videos of pertinent manufacturing processes, manual and reference book, in-class demonstrations, examples, and exercises. Relevant case studies are also used in this course to enhance participant understanding.
Specific Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Apply an intuitive understanding of how the process works
- Understand the typical tolerances, surface finishes, and process times that are easily achievable and those that are achievable only with significantly extra effort
- Determine the major cost drivers
- Design rules which are typical for the process in question
- Select between several competing processes
- Understand where to find additional knowledge about the process
Course Description
Fundamentals of Systems Engineering (APPEL-FSE)
Audience
This course is designed for novice NASA systems engineers, functional engineers, project managers, integrated product team members, and business managers. Those involved in or supporting a system development will improve their abilities to work as an integrated team.
Goal
This course introduces the methods and techniques for a structured systems development process that proceeds from requirements to concept to production to operation and is based upon NASA policy guidelines, specifically NPR 7123.1A and 7120.5D. The NASA practice of systems engineering is the glue that works across all engineering and project management disciplines to tie customer needs to the right solution. Systems engineering focuses on the interfaces between the people, processes, and products that are often outside the responsibility of any one function or discipline. This course equips your teams with the knowledge necessary to realize successful solutions.
The course is structured as a five-day class with an option to provide additional hands-on systems engineering life cycle experience, to include a focused activity such as a project review, for example, SRR, PDR or CDR, or another life cycle activity tailored to meet a specific Center need.
Learning Methods
Learning will be accomplished through lecture and class discussion. Attendees then practice the “how-to” of the principles through case studies and illustrative examples. Practical exercises provide experience in the techniques and decisions required in a real world environment.
If the hands-on life cycle activity option is selected, the participants will develop and present appropriate artifacts and content based upon a real NASA case study. This activity will be conducted post-course with guidance from the instructor.
Specific Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Explain the purpose of Systems Engineering
- Describe the SE process incorporating NASA policy guidelines (NPRs 7123.1A and 7120.5D)
- Summarize the process for system requirements development and management
- Describe the system definition process (concepts and architecting)
- Defend project decisions and trade-off analyses
- Conduct product and project risk analyses and mitigation based upon NASA policies and practices
- Incorporate reliability, availability and supportability considerations into the design process
- Explain performance measurement needs
- Describe the system implementation process
- Explain verification and validation activities
- Explain entry/exit criteria for key technical review control gates per NPRs 7123.1A and 7120.5D
Masters Forum 15
Graphics
Our graphics facilitator created visual representations of individual presentations, panel discussions, and group dialogue. The visualizations helped communicate the thematic messages emerging throughout the sessions. Special thanks to Nora Herting of Synesthesia Graphics.
Overview: Harvesting Knowledge
Ed Hoffman, Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
Katrina Pugh and Debra Lavell, Intel Corporation
Opening Remarks and Introductions
Ed Hoffman, Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
A Tale of Two Missions: Balancing Risks with Innovation
Todd May, NASA Headquarters
NASA’s Culture and Change: Lessons from History
Stephen B. Johnson, Marshall Space Flight Center
Howard E. McCurdy, American University
Mission Ready: Driving Change at Glenn and Ames
Don Cohen, ASK Magazine
Jeffrey McCandless, Ames Research Center
Robert W. Moorehead, Glenn Research Center
The Astronaut Glove Challenge and Other Projects: Big Innovation from Small Teams
Peter Homer, winner of the NASA Astronaut Glove Centennial Challenge Award
Peter Lord, Island Astronomy Institute
Area 1 Upper Stage: Lessons from an "In-House" Design Project
Chip Jones, Marshall Space Flight Center
The Story of Storytelling at JPL
Teresa Bailey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Creating and Environment for Innovation
Larry Prusak and Don Cohen, ASK Magazine
Helping Quintuplets Leave the Nest
Frank Snow, Goddard Space Flight Center
