John R. Casani, a 38-year veteran engineer and space project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has been appointed chief engineer, JPL Director Edward C. Stone announced.
In this newly created position reporting to the director, Casani will be responsible for mission assurance and for the development and maintenance of JPL's engineering standards and processes.
Casani, 62, served as project manager for Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini. In the 1960s he was spacecraft design leader and system manager for the Mariner spacecraft that flew to Venus, Mars and Mercury. Most recently he was assistant laboratory director for the Office of Flight Projects.
"Creation of the post of chief engineer is a statement about the importance of engineering to the future of JPL," Stone said. "With the emphasis being placed on small and moderate missions today, we need to take a hard look at our engineering and mission assurance processes, and overhaul them to meet these new challenges. There is no one better qualified to do this than John Casani."
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