George Gafka

George Gafka has a long and accomplished career in the aerospace industry. George began their career at NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1989, where they held various roles, including Special Assistant to the Agency Chief, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance; Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer, SMA Director, Moon2Mars and Lunar Exploration Enterprise; Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer, SMA Director, Exploration Systems Development; Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer, International Space Station; Participant Evaluation Panel Consultant, Commercial Crew Development; Chair, Mishap Investigation Team, Space Shuttle (other duty, "on the side"); Participant Evaluation Panel Voting Member, Commercial Crew Development 2; Special Assistant to the Agency Chief, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance; Participant Evaluation Panel Voting Member, Commercial Crew Development; Chief Engineer and SE&I Lead, Space Shuttle On-Orbit Tile Damage Assessment and Repair (RTF); Chief Engineer, Vehicle Systems Integration, International Space Station; Subsystem Manager (multiple/various), International Space Station; Mechanical System Designer and Analyst, X-38 Project; Structural Dynamics Test Engineer, various Programs/Projects; and NASA Co-Op Program. In 2020, they joined APT (A-P-T Research, Inc.) as Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, and Executive Vice President, Safety and Mission Assurance. In each of these roles, George Gafka has been responsible for providing mission/vision/values, ethical expectations, and overall direction to the company, assessing and evaluating the daily operations and financial performance of the organization, overseeing business development activities, conveying technical requirements, developing the official S&MA position on issues of high technical or safety and mission assurance importance, ensuring products are compliant with S&MA policies and principals, leading activities that require the integration of multiple technical disciplines, and more.

George Gafka received their High School Diploma from Sanderson High School in 1987. George then attended The University of Texas at Austin, where they earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering in 1991. George continued their studies at the University of Houston, where they obtained an MS in Mechanical Engineering in 1995. George then pursued a Master's Degree in Space Systems Engineering from Delft University of Technology, which they completed in 2006. In 2007, they earned a Professional Certification in Aircraft Accident Investigation from the Southern California Safety Institute. Finally, they completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2014.