Richard Slater

• Advised and found solutions for clients on issues and problems related to supply chain issues. Two clients were connected to the appropriate people to solve their problem. They both had supply chain issues. The first was connected to the Kansas Chamber of Commerce International section and the second was connected to a motor manufacturer that could provide the hardware in a satisfactory manner.
• Developed a Tech Innovation Center (TIC) strategic plan, to meet SBDC and Chamber of Commerce goals and objectives. This successfully linked TIC funding to SBDC funding, thus preventing TIC from being closed.
• Implemented a new approach to conducting matchmaking at events that improved the success rate of Kansas clients making connections with large and small businesses to get subcontracts with large businesses and team/subcontract with other small businesses
• Developed a set of speakers to present to clients on a variety of business topics at the Kansas SBDC "Lunch and Learn" series

• Advised companies on getting prime and subcontracts with NASA.
• NASA-JSC representative to the JSC small and large business councils. Worked with the councils to help achieve their business goals.
• Reviewed procurements for FAR 19 regulations and negotiated between Boards and the SBA to meet customer requirements.
• Chaired events that included the JSC small and large councils, and 150-200 companies to help companies meet their business goals

• Worked with Office managers to find cost effective contractual solutions to technical and business problems. Worked extensively with Procurement to meet the contractual requirements to resolve problems. Six problems related to requiring services not included in the Directorates prime contract were resolved by finding contracts at various NASA Centers that could do the work. These were worked with procurement staff at JSC and other NASA Centers
• Met with IT vendors to find technical and business solutions to long term IT problems

• Responsible for the 12 direct reports who are IT services business advisors to each of the 12 JSC Directorates.
• Responsible for IT Project Management Office for the IT directorate.

• Responsible for Cyber Security of the JSC IT Directorate with 8 direct reports and oversite of 30 contractors.
• Responsible for the integrity of 136 JSC IT security plans for JSC

• Responsible for the photographic, video, JSC library, graphic arts, document scanning, and print shop sections of the Imagery Division.
• Published a NASA paper on film testing and quality for the Shuttle Program.
• Responsibilities included support to all JSC programs including Engineering, Space Station, Shuttle, and Mission Operations with 14 direct reports and oversite of 37 contractors personnel.

• Responsible for upgrading most of the photographic processing equipment and introducing digital scanning equipment. This resulted in increased productivity by reducing labor by 25% and increasing product quality in Space Flight film products.
• Responsible for oversite of the process control section, development of the conversion of the analog technology to digital. This resulted a savings of over 1 million dollars per year in photographic printing costs.
• Significant projects included conversion of the chemical based photographic imagery acquisition and laboratory processing to digital. Also, establishing a internet based imagery distribution system for Shuttle experiment private investigators and Shuttle safety

• Taught the following courses: Statistics of Process Control, Chemical Process Control for Photographic Processes, NAVY Summer Photo Science program/Laboratory Operations and Chemical Process Control.
• Wrote 3 articles for a photography science and technology magazine
• Developed and taught a chemical process control course
• Consulted with Eastman Kodak to teach process control to new tech reps.

Night Supervisor in a custom color photographic laboratory. Responsible for 5 personnel and production schedules and product quality.

• Responsible for night shift production with 14 employees, including managing personnel, meeting production schedules, and quality control.

• Responsible for 2 leads/23 employees in the circuit board production area, including meeting schedules and product quality. Established intermittent quality checks and improved wrong or defective parts being inserted by 60% into circuit boards.

• Progressed through a couple of supervisory positions in the Ft. Wayne, Indiana plant and was promoted to Production manager at the Mason City plant in 1980.
• In Iowa, realigned the production processes and quality control area reducing production costs by 47% and preventing the plant from closing.
• Responsible for production and quality, including 5 supervisors and 58 employees.