February 28, 2011 Vol. 4, Issue 2
The Academy’s “International Project Management” course featured participants from four continents and instructors from two of NASA’s international partners.
Participants at APPEL’s International Project Management course at Kennedy Space Center (2011). Photo Credit: NASA APPEL
As the importance of international collaboration has increased over the past several years, the Academy has undertaken new efforts, in close collaboration with the Office of International and Interagency Relations, to learn from and with NASA’s international partners. As a founding member of the International Program/Project Management Committee (IPMC), the Academy asked fellow IPMC members to review the course materials for its “International Project Management” (IPM) course, with a view toward identifying common principles and practices that could be incorporated into the curriculum. Based on that feedback, the Academy revised the curriculum and invited international partners to participate in the most recent offering of IPM, which took place January 31 – February 4, 2011 at Kennedy Space Center.
Participants came from all NASA centers and Headquarters as well as the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), European Space Agency (ESA), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and four IPMC industry partners (Astrium, Thales Alenia, INVAP, and Comau). The course also featured partners serving as instructors, with Andreas Diekmann of ESA and Takayuki Imoto of JAXA offering perspectives from their respective agencies.
“This course represents a real change in the way we learn together,” said Academy Director Dr. Ed Hoffman. “The ability to collaborate successfully is critical to NASA’s present and future. Our workforce stands to gain a lot by understanding the challenges and opportunities of working with our international partners.”
