Kuiana Carson

• Serve as the Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer (CSO) assigned to space flight projects such as Geostationary Extended Observations GeoXO.
• Serve as the single point of contact and technical leader for Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) matters.
• Effectively manage over 15 multi-discipline teams of engineers and scientist simultaneously on space flight missions.
• Provide mission status and technical assessments to NASA GSFC and NASA HQ through monthly reviews, weekly reports and milestone reviews.
• Responsible for the development and management of the project mission assurance program. The mission assurance program includes the reliability, hardware quality assurance, software quality assurance, parts control, materials and process control, environmental verification, system safety, contamination control, and design review aspects of the project.
• Support key mission stakeholders such as the Principal Investigator, Mission Manager, Mission Systems Engineer, and Contractor Officer Representative in achieving mission success and ensuring compliance to NASA policies regulations and requirements.
• Provide independent SMA leadership using knowledge of quality assurance, systems safety engineering, reliability engineering, systems engineering, and project management principles to develop flexible and effective solutions.
• Prepare safety and mission assurance requirements for inclusion in project technical specification, statements of work, contract provisions, and contract modifications.
• Manage the acquisition of space systems, equipment, software and services for the mission.
• Exercise a high degree of originality and sound engineering and management judgment in the development and application of the mission assurance program as well as resolution of issues and risks as they develop in a timely manner.
• Evaluate, plan and manage the mission assurance program operations and the acquisition of systems, equipment and software which includes coordinating mission assurance activities throughout the design, fabrication, assembly, integration, and test operations performed at prime contractors, subcontractors and/or NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for space missions.
• Manage and monitor engineering and technical products throughout flight mission development and implementation to enhance and ensure compliance with Agency requirements, technical policies, standards, and processes.
• Provide evaluations of technical acceptability; systems engineering interfaces; and concept, or system performance.
• Provide oversight of development processes across multiple missions simultaneously by conducting ongoing assessments of the mission’s technical and mission assurance progress while providing and implementing recommendations to the mission as needed.
• Generate engineering analysis and communicate recommendations both orally and in writing.
• Conduct analyses, evaluations, and approving failure modes and effects analysis/critical items list (FMEA/CIL) and reliability and maintainability predictions, and verifying the design of systems and components; identifies deficiencies; and recommends design modifications that are required to correct deficiencies and enhance safety, reliability, and maintainability, and quality, - conducting critical reviews of design verification and/or certification plans to assure they meet established criteria.

· Served as the U.S. Government technical expert on the next generation Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship Class (T-ATS).

· Developed technical standards and maintenance requirements for shipboard control systems and performed electrical analysis in support of the design of ships or submarines.

· Served as Subject Matter Expert (SME) regarding technical advice and guidance for procedures, equipment, systems, tool, and/or operations and managed Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) requirements to include reliability, system safety, parts control, material and process control, environmental testing, quality assurance, and software quality assurance disciplines and policies.

· Served as lead for SMA problem resolution; initiate investigations/studies to prove/disprove design criteria and to find solutions to critical SMA problems in design, fabrication, assembly, integration, and test operations.

· Reviewed and approve manufacturing plans for appropriate quality engineering requirements.

· Managed technical requirements, including Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) requirements for disciplines such as reliability, system safety, parts control, material and process control, environmental testing, quality assurance, and software quality assurance.

· Developed and applied SMA requirements for projects by coordinating with other disciplines such as Safety, Reliability, and Quality Engineering.

· Performed technical analysis of designs to provide verification requirements on procured hardware, equipment, or systems.

· Served as the Department of Defense (DoD) technical lead for COLUMBIA Class submarine integrated product development and advance construction of combat systems.

· Supervised progress of engineering projects and reduce problems with engineering schedule milestones by translating design requirements into product solution to mitigate risk.

· Led and coordinate ballistic missile construction activities by applying knowledge of shipyard processes, submarine certification requirements, quality assurance, payload integration, and life cycle analysis.

· Prepared safety and mission assurance requirements for inclusion in project technical specification, statements of work, contract provisions, and contract modifications.

· Served as the Hoovering Missile Control Compartment System (HMCCS) lead for the Construction group working and coordinating meetings with the UK military to support manufacturing and delivery for the UK Dreadnought submarine.

· Planned and coordinated assignments with other federal agencies and vendors to ensure full integration of technical and operational requirements to support the construction of the UK common missile compartment and COLUMBIA Class submarine.

· Lead a team of 5 Subject Matter Expert (SME) Program Managers for the establishment, coordination, and execution of the policies and procedures necessary to implement quality assurance programs.

· Analyze Ship Weapon Systems or subsystems, acquisition strategic plans to implement technical and technology upgrades and/or modernization.

· Draft policy and written technical guidance for command directives, regulations, and develop recommendations on nuclear weapon inspection policy and other matters.

· Establish and maintain liaison with program managers and work closely with their representatives to ensure that safety concerns are addressed.

· Managed and approved content of verification and validation process for weapons system.

· Supervised design, workmanship inspections, development, verification, modification, and modernization of existing weapon systems.

· Developed project management documents including project functional requirements, configuration management, verification criteria, test plans, Concept of Operations, and Interface Control Documents.

· Participated in proposal writing to acquire new business for company.

· Generated engineering analysis and communicate recommendations both orally and in writing.

· Managed task planning, schedule, and labor estimate for technical requirements using system requirements such as safety, reliability, and quality engineering throughout the project lifecycle.

· Managed requirements using agile methodology based on iterative development and scrum process

· Assessed and report the programmatic and technical risk, cost threats, and develop opportunities to improve overall performance of the program.

· Reviewed and provided input on system level architecture trade studies to impact overall design and performance.

· Supervised transition of funds at various activities to ensure funds are executed as planned.

· Provided regulatory quality oversight of weapons systems maintenance and logistics operations.

· Coordinated with other agencies/organization establishing, implementing, and executing weapons incident protocol.

· Provided advice and guidance regarding logistics and operations within the acquisition life cycle affecting design, life cycle costs, and the procedures used to modify logistic support strategies.

· Prepared briefs on program execution and provides recommendations to correct program variances or problem areas.

· Performed Earned Value Management (EVM) calculations to ensure optimal planning, scheduling and control of work.

· Provided approval of deviations, validation reports, and standard operation procedures (SOPs).

· Managed the Simian Vaccine Evaluation Unit (SVEU) database for Nonhuman Primate Protocol.

· Instructed others on the use of the SVEU database, uploaded and edited material on a continuous basis.

· Developed and implemented systems to coordinate the activities of Preclinical Research Team, supporting Contractors and Interagency Agreement partners.

· Reviewed protocols to ensure that all applicable regulations, terms of award, goals, and project aims were met.

· Monitored progress of Preclinical projects and identified issues and worked to resolve the problems.

· Supervised the Sample Management Laboratory, which stored samples from different government agencies.

Advised safety, prevention, training, contamination control, and hazardous materials requirements for the Preclinical Studies to ensure all were in place and implemented.