Jeff Ding developed Ultrasonic Stir Welding (USW) to join large pieces of very high‑strength metals, such as titanium and Inconel. The solid-state weld process improves the current Thermal Stir Welding process by adding high-power ultrasonic (HPU) energy at 20 kHz frequency.

Michelle Munk is Entry, Descent and Landing Principal Investigator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate. Most recently, Munk was the subsystem lead and the Deputy Project Manager for the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI) flight payload.

Kenneth Dudley is a researcher in the Electromagnetics and Sensors Branch at NASA's Langley Research Center. His project team currently focuses on the testing and development of the SansEC sensor.

Dr. Vadim Smelyanskiy is a principal scientist for physics-based methods in the Exploration Technology Directorate at NASA Ames Research Center. During his tenure at NASA, he has been the principal investigator on several projects funded by NASA and other government agencies.

Tom Flatley, computer engineer and current head of the Science Data Processing Branch at Goddard Space Flight Center, leads a group of engineers and programmers in their development of flight and ground-based science data processing systems and applications, including SpaceCube, CubeSats/SmallSats, modeling/simulation/visualization, and other technologies.

David Wing is the principal investigator for the Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR) concept and software application. The cockpit technology, while taking aircraft traffic, weather, and other data sources into account, will compute trajectory changes during the flight to save pilots time and fuel.

Jim Lux is task manager on FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response), a portable radar device that detects heartbeats and breathing of victims trapped under rubble in a disaster.

Dr. Butler Hine is the project manager of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft.

Dr. Leslie Bebout works as a microbial ecologist in the Exobiology Branch at NASA's Moffett Field, CA-based Ames Research Center.

Garry Lyles is Chief Engineer for the Space Launch System Program office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In 2012, the National Space Club named Lyles the Astronautics Engineer of the Year in honor of his decades of advancing the nation's human spaceflight systems.

Chuck Taylor is principal investigator of in-space propulsion and space power generation within the Game Changing Development Program. He is responsible for a portfolio of technologies, including large-scale solar electric propulsion systems.

Dr. Lora Koenig, an expert in remote sensing of ice sheets and snow, provided scientific input for the design of the Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, or GROVER.

Huy Tran is the Deputy Director of the Aeronautics Directorate that performs research in air traffic management, advanced aircraft design, and thermal protection.

Rob Mueller is the Lead Senior Technologist for the RASSOR (Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) project, as well as all Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Human Robotics Systems. The RASSOR mining robot will collect soil (known as regolith) on the moon or Mars so it can be processed into rocket propellants, breathable air, water, and other consumable commodities as well as manufacturing and construction materials feed stocks.

Dr. Andrew Watson works on models of human vision and applies them to visual technology. The Founder and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Vision, he is also a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and of the Society for Information Display. Watson received a 2011 Presidential Rank Award from the President of the United States.

Bob Reisse coordinates the design and testing of ALHAT, Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology sensors.

David Mitchell is the project manager of the MAVEN mission, which will examine environmental changes on Mars.

Chuck Jorgensen, Chief Scientist for the Neuro Engineering Lab at NASA Ames Research Center, in Moffett Field, CA, currently studies biolelectrical interfacing and the detection of human emotion and visualization.

Dr. Carlos Calle, lead scientist in Kennedy Space Center's Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab, is developing instrumentation that addresses the problem of electrostatic dust. The technology will be used for future exploration missions on Mars and the Moon.

Dr. Greg Chavers, test lead at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, helped to design the "Mighty Eagle" robotic prototype lander. The vehicle, which can guide itself to a specified target, flew "open loop" to an altitude of 100 feet in late August.

Neil Cheatwood is principal investigator of the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3). In July, the IRVE-3 team tested an inflatable heat shield that protects spacecraft from extreme temperatures and hypersonic speeds when entering a planet's atmosphere or returning to Earth.

Steve Gaddis runs the newly created Game Changing Technology Development Program Office. Gaddis leads the program's efforts to develop innovative technologies that will revolutionize space exploration.

Marcia Domack and John Wagner, engineers in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch at NASA Langley Research Center, have worked with Boston-based metal fabricator Spincraft, focusing on a one-piece manufacturing process called spin forming.

Sandeep Yayathi is developing a battery-based power system that will allow the Robonaut 2, now aboard the International Space Station, to move about freely without having to be plugged into the ISS power grid.

In March, NASA successfully launched five rockets from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch was part of NASA's Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX), which will help scientists better understand the jet stream. Jack Vieira, range project man- ager for the ATREX mission, helped to launch five suborbital rockets more than 60 miles above Earth.