Indian-American, A C Charania named new chief technologist of NASA

Indian-American, A C Charania named new chief technologist of NASA- An Indian-American aerospace expert, AC Charania has been appointed as new chief technologist of NASA. AC Charania replaced Indian-American scientist Bhavya Lal, who served as acting chief technologist prior to the former’s appointment.

Charania is set to serve as principal advisor to Administrator Bill Nelson on technology policy and programmes at NASA headquarters. He will also ‘align NASA’s agency-wide technology investments with mission needs across six mission directorates and oversee technology collaboration with other federal agencies, the private sector, and external stakeholders,’ the space agency noted in a statement on Monday.

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He joined the space agency in his new role on January 3, 2023. He has replaced Indian-American scientist, Bhavya Lal, who served as acting chief technologist prior to the former’s appointment. He has also served as vice president of product strategy at Reliable Robotics.

Who is AC Charania?

AC Charania received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory University.

Before joining NASA, Charania worked at Blue Origin to mature its lunar permanence strategy, Blue Moon lunar lander program, and multiple technology initiatives with NASA. He also served as vice president of product strategy at Reliable Robotics.

According to the press release by NASA, the Indian-American also served in multiple management and technology roles at SpaceWorks Enterprises, including helping to incubate two startups, Generation Orbit and Terminal Velocity Aerospace.