United Space Alliance recently honored Ronald Hollis, center, as Employee of the Year at its annual “Quest for Excellence” Awards ceremony.  At left is USA CEO Mike McCulley.  At right is USA COO Brewster Shaw.

UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE PRESENTS SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT 
AWARDS TO TEXAS EMPLOYEES

HOUSTON, TEXAS (March 3, 2005) -- United Space Alliance recently presented five individual employees and two teams with its highest company recognition, and honored Ronald Hollis as Employee of the Year at its annual “Quest for Excellence” Awards ceremony.

Each month, USA presents Quest for Excellence awards in the categories of Outstanding Safety, Quality, Leadership, Administrative Excellence, Technical Achievement, Community Service and Teamwork. In 2004, more than 600 employees received the monthly individual and team awards. The monthly winners are then candidates for the Superior Achievement Recognition Awards (SARA) in each category

As a USA Project Leader, Hollis, USA’s Employee of the year, also received the SARA in the Quality category. The honors were given for his efforts, dedication, and commitment to quality to produce significant safety improvements with the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade project. Hollis worked with the Cockpit Avionics Upgrade hardware vendor seeking to improve an unacceptable USA Product Quality Assurance inspection rejection rate. A dramatic improvement from the 2002 audit is in great part due to Ron's effectiveness, advice and guidance to the vendor on how to improve their processes, procedures, and inspections to achieve the required level of rigor. Working directly with technicians and inspectors on the floor, he established their understanding of the importance of each task, review, and inspection.

The SARA for Safety went to the two-person Gemini-Atlas Team. A potential fire aboard the International Space Station was avoided thanks to the persistence of Flight Controllers Stein Cantrell-Avloes and Christine Tyrell, formerly of USA now a NASA employee. Following the failure of the Russian oxygen generating equipment aboard the ISS, both the Russian and U.S. Flight control teams agreed to burn oxygen candles, even though the crew could not locate a procedure required thermal shield. Cantrell-Avloes and Tyrell both continued to raise concerns with the Flight Director, eventually contacting a former ISS commander at home to help locate the shield, and the oxygen candles were burned safely and according to documented requirements.

The SARA for Leadership was awarded to John Limongelli. As a USA manager in the Flight Design and Dynamics Operations Center, Limongelli is the personification of the USA core values of integrity, fairness, success, and safety. When export control issues with the Automated Transfer Vehicle and the H-2 Transfer Vehicle first arose, he worked tirelessly to enable his employees to complete the objectives in compliance with regulations. In the process, Limongelli has become an expert in the complicated realm of Export Control regulations and has impressed his employees with his dedication to support not only his company but their needs as well.

The Administrative Excellence SARA went to Cynthia Vourganas, as an administrative assistant in USA’s Contract Management department she is responsible for maintenance of the Contracts Management Database, Contract Information System, Web site and Correspondence Control System. Vourganas was honored for her efforts that transformed the way Contracts Management in both Houston and Florida process and track contract changes, provide information to internal USA customers, and interface with external customers. Vourganas also put together a high quality Contracts Management and Pricing Web site that allows direct access to the on-line contract and contracts management procedures, records management information, links to Government procurement regulations, and a wide array of contracts management training information.

The Technical Achievement Award went to USA Flight Controller Tatiana Dobrinskaya. Using her knowledge of the U.S. and Russian Motion Control Systems, she devised an alternative method of completing activities requiring Russian thruster-based attitude control that will save expensive propulsive consumables. Dobrinskaya took the initiative to analyze the data and to discuss her theory with her Russian counterparts. When this new method was tested on orbit, a savings of 93 percent was documented.

The SARA for Community Service was presented to Deborah Mitchell. Mitchell works as a Project Leader in the User Applications Department of Flight Operations Engineering. Over the past 13 years, Mitchell has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to children and education. A key volunteer with the March of Dimes and the United Negro College Fund, she also serves as a coach for the Wings Track Club. An advocate for higher education, Mitchell also has helped many students experience the dream of going to college.

The SARA for Teamwork was presented to the 10-member Increment 9 U.S./Russian Extravehicular (EVA) Team. Faced with the requirement to perform a maintenance Extravehicular Activity that had not been planned or trained, the Increment 9 EVA Flight Control Team rose to the challenge by designing and successfully executing the first U.S. EVA performed in a Russian Orlan spacesuit. The team worked long hours to develop, test and execute the EVA replacement of this critical International Space Station Remote Power Controller Module. Team members were Paul Boehm, Jaclyn Kagey, Brian Peavey, Daryl Schuck, Michelle Hollinger, Charles Goff, Aaron Decker, Roger Lottridge, John Raines, and Rolf Erdmann.

United Space Alliance is a space operations business offering products and services in space flight training, space hardware processing, launch and return operations and on-orbit operations. USA employs more than 10,000 people in Texas, Florida, Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Russia.