admin

Stellar Solutions CEO Janet Grondin was recently featured on “Talon Talks,” a  podcast showcasing the best and brightest of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University alumni.  Grondin received her BS in Aeronautical Engineering, Magna cum Laude, in 1989 – a time, she recalled, when the music and energy of “Top Gun” was pervasive on campus.  Since then, as the host noted, Grondin attained three Master degrees and served for 26 years in the U.S. Air Force before joining the private sector and then Stellar Solutions.

At Embry-Riddle she was encouraged to run experiments and stress-test specimens in a lab without a professor to look over her shoulder. “Having that early empowering experience was foundational to my career. That’s why as CEO, I am protective of that part of our culture at Stellar. It’s what inspires us to come to work every day.”

Grondin shared her respect for the core values first envisioned and led by Celeste Ford. “I don’t know of any other company that is all about putting people in dream jobs and solving customers’ critical needs,” she said.

Some key defining moments:

·      With the Air Force, Grondin created a  frequency-hopping system on airplanes to evade enemy detection during Desert Storm.

·      She led fielding of a next-generation GPS ground system, which was like “replacing the engine of a car while driving 60 miles an hour.”

·      As a Lt. Colonel,  Grondin flattened her organization to speed decision-making and empower  the team, many of whom are now leaders in the Space Force.

“You don’t always know what your dream job will be, but if you can pursue your curiosity and have the opportunity to test yourself, great things can happen,” she says.   

What is her favorite cartoon character? Elastigirl from The Incredibles – like many working moms who have to stretch. What historic person would she like to live as for a week? Martin Luther King Jr., whom she deeply admires: “I would love to see how he changed history.”  

Listen here to learn more about Grondin and why she is proud to be at Stellar Solutions.  https://alumni.erau.edu/s/867/bp20/interior.aspx?sid=867&gid=1&pgid=6231

Stellar Solutions CEO featured on “Talon Talks”

Military, corporate and strategic leader joins global aerospace engineering services innovator  

Palo Alto CA – Stellar Solutions, Inc., the global aerospace engineering services leader, has named Robert Wright as Vice President, Intelligence Systems.  He joins the company’s senior executive team as it embarks on its 27^th year of delivering high-impact engineering services to intelligence, defense, civil, commercial, and international customers.

In announcing his appointment, Stellar Solutions CEO Janet Grondin, who previously held that position at the company, said, “Bob Wright brings 30 years of extensive space domain experience across military, private sector and strategic consulting realms. As a proven builder of sound businesses and talented diverse teams, he will help drive our mission of solving customers’ critical needs while placing our employees in their dream jobs.” 

Wright has implemented large-scale data strategy, digital engineering and human capital transformation programs, to include talent recruiting and retention initiatives embracing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion principles.

“I am excited to be part of Stellar Solutions’ bold strategy to seize growth opportunities in the space industry today. With its agile, cooperative culture, the company is a force in delivering systems engineering expertise across business lines and sectors,” Wright said.  

Most recently as client relationship manager at Deloitte Consulting, LLP, he advised government clients on organizational design transformation, business process re-engineering and enterprise data strategy development.  Earlier, as General Manager and Senior Vice President at Integral Systems and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, he led strategy development for a team of over 250 software engineers, more than doubling revenues, and developed and maintained unique command and control software for military satellite communications and rapid Radio Frequency interference detection and response.

Wright’s senior military service included roles as Commander of the Space Innovation & Development Center, Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado, and prior to that, Vice Commander of 14AF at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where he helped stand up the Joint Space Operations Center. He has held numerous and successive military leadership positions with expertise in MILSATCOM, GPS, Space and ICBM Launch, Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), and classified programs.

He is devoted to nonprofit leadership, having led innovative fundraising in his term as Board Chair of the American Heart Association’s Southern Colorado Chapter. As President of the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association in both Omaha and Colorado Springs, he raised substantial funds for local high schools and student STEM scholarship programs.  He serves on the Board of Directors at Peterson AFB Air & Space Museum Foundation.

Wright holds a Bachelor’s of Science from the US Air Force Academy and a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.  He graduated from the Deloitte Executive Leadership Program and Deloitte University, and attended the National Defense University, the Armed Forces Staff College, the Air Command & Staff College and the Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Program.

About Stellar Solutions, Inc.:  Stellar Solutions is a global aerospace and systems engineering services provider to commercial, defense, intelligence, civil and international sectors.  Stellar Solutions provides rapid-response capabilities related to global surveillance and cyber-security, space exploration, risk management, and technology optimization. These solutions to clients’ critical needs involve satellites in space, sensors on Earth, and intricate technology connections across multiple frontiers. With physical operations in California, Colorado, the greater Washington DC area, London and France, as well as employees throughout the U.S. and the globe, Stellar Solutions has become a recognized leader in delivering end-to-end critical expertise and problem-solving skills to dozens of significant programs. Stellar Solutions Foundation supports employees’ community engagement. QuakeFinder, Stellar Solutions’ humanitarian R&D division, pursues earthquake prediction models. www.stellarsolutions.com

On Wednesday, January 12, Stellar Solutions CEO Janet Grondin gave an expert talk on “Crossing Boundaries: Transforming the Space Business on Earth, from Orbit and Beyond” at the Commercial Space Lecture Series hosted by the Space Portal Office at NASA Ames Research Center. These conversations center on the core concepts of space commerce and commercialization of space, to include government investment, public-private partnerships, privatization, and government agencies as part of the market.

This weekly teleconference creates an open dialogue about challenges and opportunities relevant to both NASA and industry among a broad set of participants from civil, commercial and defense sectors as well as the academic, venture capital and engineering communities.

Grondin conveyed her perspective on the robust possibilities that are now available in space, with examples of how Stellar Solutions’ unique concept of “Crossing Boundaries” enables the innovation and problem solving so crucial to the success of the company and the industry as a whole.

• How the aspirations that we have for humanity in space are increasingly complex – from space travel and a cis-lunar economy; to a cooperative defense, communications and intelligence space ecosystem; to addressing climate change and planetary protection.

• Why preparing a workforce of people for their dream jobs and cultivating a broader team of experts through a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion will be key to tackling the difficult problems that Stellar Solutions’ customers face in aerospace.

• How Stellar Solutions’ cross-sector expertise addresses the nation’s space priorities; and how the company crosses boundaries to achieve these goals to improve lives and enhance knowledge on Earth, strengthen national security and public safety from orbit and extend our horizons beyond our orbit.

“I want to send a special thanks to Stellar Solutions’ Civil and Commercial teams for their input,“ Grondin said.

Grondin’s full presentation is available at:

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/space_portal_janet_grondin_2022.pdf

More information about the Commercial Space Lecture Series can be found here:

https://www.nasa.gov/ames/partnerships/spaceportal/commercial-space-lecture-series

Dr. Jacob Bortnik, who served as one of QuakeFinder’s committed scientific researchers for many years, recently received a significant recognition from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Bortnik was selected as a winner of the 2021 Joanne Simpson Medal, AGU’s highest award for mid-career scientists. The humanitarian R&D project QuakeFinder was formed in 2000 by Stellar Solutions with the mission to save lives by forecasting earthquakes.

Bortnik received this honor as part of the AGU Fall Meeting in December 2021.  Bortnik is Professor of Space Physics in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles. His research group focuses on space weather in the Earth’s near-space environment.

According to the AGU, “This medal is named in honor of Joanne Simpson, who was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in meteorology and during her career made fundamental contributions to modern research on tropical clouds and hurricanes. The medal recognizes exceptional mid-career scientists who have made transformative scientific advances or breakthrough in the Earth and space sciences, have demonstrated strong leadership, and provided outstanding service to science and society.”

The award citation reads, in part: “Jacob Bortnik is a recognized leader in nonlinear plasma wave interactions with charged particles in Earth’s radiation belts (the Van Allen belts). Relativistic electrons and energetic protons there can damage satellites, disrupting telecommunications and other services we have come to depend upon, and can endanger astronauts. Radiation belt fluxes are highly variable due to changes in the solar wind, which powers them. Understanding the physics of this variability to build accurate predictive models of ‘space weather’ is a major goal of space science … Bortnik has made some of the most significant advances in our understanding of such interactions, using theory, modeling, observations, laboratory and computer simulations, and machine learning … His collaborative spirit and transformational research on wave-particle interactions have made an indelible mark in space science.”

The Stellar Solutions and QuakeFinder teams extend sincere congratulations to Dr. Jacob Bortnik for this momentous achievement. More information about this award and Bortnik’s research can be found at the following links:

• Read the UCLA Newsroom article here: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/dept/faculty/professor-jacob-bortnik-wins-joanne-simpson-medal
• Read the full award citation and watch Bortnik’s accept speech here: https://www.agu.org/Account/Candidate-Detail-Page?candidateId=73E681D9-7D48-4621-843B-CDB6F5F97C03
• Learn more about Bortnik’s academic research at: https://dept.atmos.ucla.edu/jbortnik
• Click here to read Quakefinder papers coauthored by Bortnik (2007 – 2010): https://www.quakefinder.com/science/papers-by-quakefinder/

Global aerospace engineering services leader honored for contribution to NASA Headquarters achievements

Stellar Solutions, the global aerospace engineering company, has won a NASA 2020 Small Business Industry Award in the category of the Center-Level Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year.

The award recognizes Stellar Solutions’ work at NASA Headquarters to support the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate’s Human Landing System (HLS) acquisition and Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative. To accomplish this, Stellar Solutions called upon its technical experts from its areas of specialty – Civil, Defense, Commercial, Intel and International – from across the company and around the world.

In particular, Stellar Solutions drove strategic analysis and acquisition strategies to support NASA’s “Moon to Mars” mission, a sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to send humans farther into space and bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. One recent high-profile project in this mission was the HLS “Appendix N” awards to Blue Origin, Dynetics, Lockheed Martin, Northup Grumman, and SpaceX for Lunar Lander prototyping and risk reduction.

“Stellar Solutions is proud to bring to bear our expertise across the organization to support NASA’s partnerships among private and public entities. We are honored to support an historic period of space exploration by managing the many vendors who are developing the technology of the future to align with NASA’s architectural standards and continuity,” said Walter Eilers, Vice President, Civil Programs, Stellar Solutions.

Stellar Solutions helped devise the solicitation and acquisition mechanism in NASA’s NextSTEP partnership model to achieve these strategies. NextSTEP is a procurement program enabling NASA to partner with the industry to develop capabilities that meet NASA human space exploration objectives while also supporting industry commercialization plans.

Stellar Solutions’ recognition is the culmination of ten years in support of NASA Headquarters’ mission, including the last three-plus years as a prime contractor.

The company was recognized for providing invaluable solutions in an extremely challenging year complicated by the global pandemic.

As the Stellar Solutions recommendation by NASA read, “Rest assured the first woman and the next man on the moon will owe a piece of their achievement through the hard work and due diligence provided by Stellar Solutions’ involvement and management of the Human Landing System. Through adversity and an advanced schedule, Stellar Solutions assisted in the management of multiple vendors who are developing the technology of the future. Without their steadfast assistance and attention to detail monitoring schedules, delays and other vendor issues, the future may have remained earthbound.”

About the NASA Small Business Awards and Achievement: The NASA Office of Small Business Programs recognizes civil servant and industry achievement in, and in support of, the Agency’s Small Business Program each fiscal year. Annually, OSBP issues a call for nominations for the current Fiscal Year for the Small Business Advocates Awards (SBAA) and Small Business Industry Awards (SBIA) programs from the first Monday in August through mid-October. Individuals and/or teams (SBAA) and companies (SBIA) must be nominated by a NASA civil servant through the NASA Vendor Database in order to be eligible for an award. Self-nominations are not accepted. https://osbp.nasa.gov/award.html

About Stellar Solutions, Inc.: Stellar Solutions is a global aerospace and systems engineering services provider to commercial, defense, intelligence, civil and international sectors. Stellar Solutions provides rapid-response capabilities related to global surveillance and cyber-security, space exploration, risk management, and technology optimization. These solutions to clients’ critical needs involve satellites in space, sensors on Earth, and intricate technology connections across multiple frontiers. With physical operations in California, Colorado, the greater Washington DC area, London and France as well as employees throughout the U.S. and the globe, Stellar Solutions has become a recognized leader in delivering end-to-end critical expertise and problem-solving skills to dozens of significant programs. Stellar Solutions Foundation supports employees’ community engagement. QuakeFinder, Stellar Solutions’ humanitarian R&D division, pursues earthquake prediction models. http://www.stellarsolutions.com