RELEASE NO: 99-113

GODDARD EMPLOYEE RECEIVES NASA’S KERLEY AWARD

Greenbelt resident John Kolasinski, an electrical engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., received the Center’s James Kerley Award in October for his innovative fiber optic work, which resulted in two U.S. patents, four current U.S. patent disclosures and several NASA new technology reports. His patented optical cable stripping inventions also are currently in the licensing process by an aerospace technology firm.

Working through the Center's Technology Commercialization Office, which is responsible for transferring and commercializing Goddard-developed technologies, Kolasinski developed new techniques that improved fiber optic reliability and have made both the technology and information available to industry and academia. His developments are expected to enhance long-term performance of fiber optic devices particularly in the emerging aerospace fiber optic world.

Kolasinski’s accomplishments include serving as the lead fiber optic engineer for the fiber optic flight experiment onboard the STS-95 Space Shuttle mission that returned John Glenn to space. The experiment evaluated the viability of using fiber optics as a high rate data bus for payload use in the future under the Shuttle upgrades program. He led fiber optic development of the solid state recorder, which was used to replace one of the Hubble Space Telescope’s three reel-to-reel tape recorders during the second serving mission. Kolasinski also received NASA’s exceptional engineering medal for his design, development and standards work in the area of space flight fiber optics.

Active in industry, Kolasinski participates in committee work for the Telecommunication Industry Association and the Society of Automotive Engineers Avionics System Division.

The Kerley award program began in 1994 and is named after James Kerley, a deceased Goddard employee who was a champion of technology transfer and commercialization. The Technology Commercialization Office presents the annual award to Goddard civil servant s who are instrumental in commercializing technologies.

Kolasinski was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisc. He graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Kolasinski started working at the Center in 1989, assigned to the Electrical Systems Integration Branch. He later transferred to the Electrical Systems Branch where he works today.

He is the son of Richard (deceased) and Lillian Kolasinski of Milwaukee, Wisc. and the son-in-law of Ralph (deceased) and Rada Cooper of Ellerbe, N.C.

Kolasinski and his wife, Hilda, reside in Greenbelt, Md.