Grants

Phase I

In June of 2005, several Phase II Grants were down-selected from the original ten Phase I research efforts, through a rigorous peer review process and these are now proceeding into their second and final year of research which will be concluded in July of 2007. The Phase II Grants are noted by asterisks in the following table.

2004 Selected Abstracts – Phase I

* Modeling: Analyzing and Engineering NASA's Safety Culture
Nancy Leveson, MIT

Correctly Interpreting Precursor Events*
Robin Dillon-Merrill, Georgetown University

Cultural Influence on the Implementation of Lessons Learned in Safety & Risk Management Decisions
Isaac Maya, USC

Innovative Management of Student Run Space Research Projects
Jeffrey Hoffman, MIT

Projects in Space
Kevin Grant, UT, San Antonio

Building a Strategic System Approach to NASA's Project and Program Management
Aaron Shenhar, Stevens Institute of Technology

Project Management Research: Lessons Learned Life Cycle Processes and Aerospace Workforce Development
Noel Hinners, University of Colorado, Boulder

* Learning-Based Project Reviews
Tim Koutner, University of Central Florida

NASA Strategic Multi-Project Resource Management 'CC-Lite
Thomas Lechler, Stevens Institute of Technology

* Risk and Safety/Security Assessment at NASA
Karlene Roberts, UC Berkley

Modeling: Analyzing and Engineering NASA's Safety Culture
Nancy Leveson, MIT

Safety culture can be modeled, analyzed and engineered just like physical systems. The goal of the Phase 1 effort is to create a set of models of the current NASA shuttle program safety culture and safety control structure. The models will be useful in designing and validating improvements to the risk management and safety culture, in evaluating the potential impact of changes and policy decisions in assessing risk, and in performing root cause analysis. The goal is not to identify the root cause or causes of an accident, but to understand why the accident occurred in terms of all contributing factors, and how to re-engineer the socio-technical system to lower risk.

Rationale for selection:

• Reflects in-depth understanding of NASA P/PM culture
• Study goes directly at NASA safety culture and change challenges at NASA today.
• Study will address safety and risk assessment: a key weakness cited in the CAIB report.
• Principal Investigator has excellent credentials, access to key individuals, and connections that will ensure that the project results to get good visibility within NASA.

Correctly Interpreting Precursor Events
Robin Dillon-Merrill, Georgetown University

Project management is always criticized when failures occur, especially when hindsight reveals previous, similar near-miss events in the past. The objective of this research is to identify how, why, and to what degree precursor events are incorporated into a person's decision calculus at key points before a failure, and how these near-miss events influence a person's beliefs concerning the reliability of a technical system. Once we have conceptualized how near-miss events influence decision making, we will develop a prescriptive risk-based project management framework to improve the interpretation of near-miss events. Improving the P/M process requires understanding how decisions were made given the knowledge at the time after the near-miss event, but before the actual failure.

Rationale for selection:

• Directly impacts ops and mission management reviews used by NASA.
• Develop prescriptive approach to help good/ competent people make better decisions following a near-miss event -- to make better and technical decisions.
• Addresses failure to recognize precursor events, e.g. near-misses.
• Begins to define a quantitative approach to handling near-miss events (as in civil aviation).
• Principal Investigator has established good NASA points of contact at GSFC and ARC.

Cultural Influence on the Implementation of Lessons Learned in Safety & Risk Management Decisions
Isaac Maya, USC

The primary objective of this research is to identify and quantify the impact of lessons learned components of previous mishap investigations as applied on subsequent mission P/PM risk and safety management processes. We will focus on studies conducted on previous mishaps that raised concerns that LL from these past mishaps were not being implemented effectively toward the design of subsequent safety and organizational designs. The study will rely on NASA LLIS, expert interviews, and previous case studies.

It will concentrate on three most frequently cited recurring causal factors for failures: poor team communication, poor systems engineering implementation, and inadequate management review for all life cycle phases.

Rationale for selection:

• TAB approach with knowledgeable participants is a fundamentally sound approach.
• Lessons Learned on Lessons Learned, a topic of considerable interest to NASA.
• Study will help to understand why lessons learned are not applied - cultural aspects.
• Classroom teaching/curriculum will result.
• LM has agreed to actively participate; also close ties to JPL.
• Contributes to the effectiveness of NASA's LLIS improvement.

Innovative Management of Student Run Space Research Projects
Jeffrey Hoffman, MIT

Student-run projects are natural recruiting tools for the future aerospace workforce, therefore, enabling such projects is in NASA's long-term interest. We believe that, with appropriate guidance, students are capable of managing sophisticated research projects, and we propose to research current and past student-run projects and develop a set of guidelines for applying professional oversight and assistance to manage risk at a level consistent with the much-reduced costs achievable for such projects. The focus of much of our Phase 1 research will be the Mars Gravity Project, currently being run entirely by students at MIT, University of Washington, and University of Queensland.

Rationale for selection:

• Directly addresses NASA need to find ways to attract and recruit future P/PM personnel.
• Develops templates, tools and management processes to support and enhance student-run space projects - both full life-cycle projects as well as instrument projects.
• Innovate P/PM process to enable students to carry out serious space-related projects while maintaining an acceptable level of risk.
• Leverages experience from existing SMEX P/PM practices.
• Leverages students already involved in Mars Gravity Experiment.
• Principal Investigator has very capable/knowledgeable team and good connections to NASA and space research.

Projects in Space
Kevin Grant, UT, San Antonio

"Projects in Space" proposes to assist in the cultivation of a new generation of NASA project managers. We rely upon a teaming arrangement between the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Challenger Learning Center (CLC) of San Antonio. The Phase 1 effort will be to develop and evaluate a "Projects in Space" mission scenario to be conducted for young professionals (at the masters and undergraduate levels) at the CLC. This "hands-on" learning experience will leverage the space station and mission control simulators of the CLC to provide a rich, inspiring and contextually relevant setting in which the project teams will actually execute their planned projects. Additionally, the phase 1 effort will develop a research test bed to be used for future studies that address recognition and utilization of expertise on project teams.

Rationale for selection:

• Directly responds to NASA's challenge in attracting and developing P/PM professionals, and utilizes new generation of web-based training tools.
• Purports to conduct research on dynamics of team learning/interaction - an important NASA topic.
• A team interaction model is 1st deliverable.
• Principal Investigator brings experience from AF Human Systems Division; research team member has experience with NASA Manned Space Flight; strong review and advisory board.
• Personnel with NASA experience contribute to module definition.

Building a Strategic System Approach to NASA's Project and Program Management
Aaron Shenhar, Stevens Institute of Technology

This proposal responds to two NASA needs: achieving NASA's vision of leadership in P/PM, and the creation of a strategic approach to P/PM, where "one size does not fit all." The proposal team, from six universities in three countries, propose to study NASA's programs and projects and develop a framework to identify the NASA-specific strategic project types and develop this framework tailored to NASA's specific environment and mission requirements. Long-term, this framework will be integrated into NASA's procedures and processes, as well as education, career development, and performance enhancement practices.

Rationale for selection:

• The Principal Investigator has assembled an international and accomplished team.
• The study correctly recognizes diversity of projects and need for diversity of approaches and procedures.
• Strategic framework to distinguish among NASA projects - to tailor P/PM practices to each type.
• The P/PM framework would foster development of P/PM personnel and their ability to serve a customer.
• Complements the in-house NASA work to re-write 7120.5.

Project Management Research: Lessons Learned Life Cycle Processes and Aerospace Workforce Development
Noel Hinners, University of Colorado, Boulder

NASA requires enhanced Lessons Learned (LL) to help fill institutional knowledge gaps due to increased retirements, decreased practical experience for young engineers, and possible shortages of engineers entering aerospace. This proposal seeks to perform two tasks: 1) survey, analyze and suggest correctives for three significant LL life-cycle shortcomings (incomplete LL life-cycle capture, inadequate LL process funding, and insufficient motivation), and 2) through engineering hands-on senior projects in the CU Aerospace Engineering sciences department, develop, evaluate and document effectiveness of training and education of student engineers in PM rationale and fundamentals.

Rationale for selection:

• Proposes to develop LL in full life cycle of project. -- Gap Analysis.
• Proposes good scenario for creating curricula for classroom learning (tutorials).
• Established good relationship with LM and NASA Office of the Chief Engineer (working on LL) will facilitate implementation of results.
• PI has excellent credentials and in-depth knowledge of NASA issues.
• Directly addresses how to actually get LL into course curricula.

Learning-Based Project Reviews
Tim Koutner, University of Central Florida

This research contributes directly to NASA, KSC, and the CPMR's research agenda. This research focuses on understanding and developing best practices for effective "learning-based program/project reviews" (LBPRs). LBPRs are defined as program/project reviews which provide an opportunity to learn while sharing status for project control. LBPRs are important because they provide the real-time routine opportunity to create, capture, share, and apply both tacit and explicit knowledge throughout a project life-cycle, not just at project closeout. An action research approach will be used, with the cooperation of KSC operational directorates and a KSC contractor.

Rationale for selection:

• Proposes improving learning and knowledge transfer on P/PM reviews at KSC -- a significant contribution.
• Has strong KSC buy-in: a resource to almost all NASA projects - so has broad applicability.
• Principal Investigator has 8 year relationship with KSC.
• Action research approach should produce near term results.

NASA Strategic Multi-Project Resource Management 'CC-Lite
Thomas Lechler, Stevens Institute of Technology

The management of projects in a multi-project environment is a complex balancing act between the output of a single project and the output of all projects. Our objective is to develop new approaches for improving project schedule and budget performance in a multi-project environment -- focusing on two key questions: how to maximize performance on all projects through allocation of specific resources and what performance indicators are required to monitor and control resource management activities. The approach is based on the Critical Chain (CC) approach introduced by Goldratt, in 1977. We propose to develop and test a simplified, more easy to use, version of CC, called "CC-Lite."

Rationale for selection:

• Tool widely used in industry, a proven improvement over current NASA critical path standard.
• Explores methods for optimizing the outcome of multitasking in a resource-constrained environment.
• Potential avenue to introduce a tool for P/PM not in current NASA use, but with potential for significant paradigm change.
• Very directed proposal.

Risk and Safety/Security Assessment at NASA
Karlene Roberts, UC Berkley

Phase one research will assess organizational culture at NASA for a number of purposes including diagnosis, restructuring, training, and altering communication and decision-making. The research team will adapt the US Navy's Command Safety Assessment Survey to NASA's culture. The results can be used to compare between various NASA units and various types of Navy units. The study is flexibly designed so that the instrument can be modified to assess security culture.

Rationale for selection:

• Uses Navy’s proven tool to assess organizational culture for NASA -- important NASA priority.
• Will provide NASA an opportunity to measure change & enable comparison of NASA's management culture to the Navy's.
• Study could provide a valuable resource for implementing P/PM culture change.
• Instrument can be applied to security as well as safety.