The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), the University of Colorado Boulder’s longest-established and highest-budget research institute, has appointed Scott Tucker as its new director of engineering. Tucker brings more than two decades of engineering and project management experience to the role, much of it gained at LASP.
“I am pleased to announce that Scott Tucker has agreed to serve as the institute’s director of engineering,” said LASP Director Dan Baker. “The depth and breadth of his experience and his long history at LASP position him to shape the future of our engineering division. I look forward to working with him as part of our senior leadership team.”
Tucker will succeed LASP’s current Director of Engineering Thomas Sparn who is retiring this fall. The director of engineering acts as LASP’s chief engineer, overseeing the lab’s largest division, with more than 250 professionals and students who are responsible for space flight instrumentation design, development, production, and calibration. LASP engineers work closely with scientists and assembly technicians to design and build space flight hardware, as well as to mentor students who work as entry-level engineers on these programs. The engineering director manages a portfolio of approximately $120 million of annual revenue for advanced flight programs and missions, including spacecraft development, in addition to $10 million of annual revenue for advanced CubeSat programs.
“I’m honored to step into this new role at LASP,” said Tucker, who is currently a senior project manager on several spaceflight instrument and technology development projects. “Having worked alongside this dedicated and talented team for two decades, I’m excited to lead our continued efforts in developing innovative engineering solutions that empower our scientists to explore and answer fundamental questions about the universe.”
Tucker began his career at LASP as the mechanical engineering design engineer and structural analyst for the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission’s Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) instrument—a panoramic imager that measures ultraviolet radiation scattered by polar mesospheric clouds and atmospheric gases. He was also the mechanical engineering lead for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission’s Axial Double Probe (ADP) electric field instrument, which included the unique engineering of a roughly 15-meter-long deployable boom—a model of which can now be seen hanging above the lobby of the Space Science building on East Campus.
Tucker then moved into the role of mechanical analysis and test group manager, in which he oversaw mechanical analysis and test activities at LASP, before taking on the role of project manager on multiple NASA spaceflight instrument and technology development projects. These include MMS-ADP; Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe mission’s (IMAP) Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument; the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) mission’s Atmospheric Electrodynamics probe for THERmal plasma (AETHER) instrument; and the Europa Surface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) instrument on NASA’s flagship Europa Clipper mission, which is scheduled to launch in October to investigate whether Jupiter’s moon Europa could have conditions suitable for life.
Tucker has also been involved in several service activities at LASP. He has been a member of the proposal development committee for 10 years, as well as an active member of the strategic planning design team, and a member of the senior professional research assistant advisory committee.
“I look forward to helping foster a work environment that supports employee diversity, creativity, and productivity, and offers a broad range of opportunities for employees and students,” Tucker added.
Tucker has authored or coauthored numerous research papers and holds both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
By Sara Pratt, Sr. Communications Specialist
Founded a decade before NASA, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder is on a mission to revolutionize human understanding of the cosmos by pioneering new technologies and approaches to space science. The institute is at the forefront of solar, planetary, and space physics research, climate and space-weather monitoring, and the search for evidence of habitable worlds. LASP is also deeply committed to inspiring and educating the next generation of space explorers. From the first exploratory rocket measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere to trailblazing observations of every planet in the solar system, LASP continues to build on its remarkable history with a nearly $1 billion portfolio of new research and engineering programs, backed by superb data analysis, reliable mission operations, and skilled administrative support.
