Adam Contos

Background

About Adam Contos

Through my education, drive and dedication, I've been afforded many opportunities in experiencing both sides of a variety of aspects: academia and industry; science and engineering; education and implementation; manager and staff. • Developed a solid foundation with over 29 years post-bachelor’s science and engineering experience with space or ground based optical/infrared telescopes, including Project Manager and Systems Engineer roles. • Earned two master’s degrees (astronomy/space physics and electrical engineering/photonics). • As the Program Manager and Lead Spacecraft Bus Systems Engineer, am the technical and programmatic lead for largest spacecraft bus in the company’s portfolio • Science Instruments Program Manager at the Giant Magellan Telescope, responsible for overseeing the development of all six facility-class instruments for the 30-meter class telescope. I efficiently managed these instruments in various stages of development with contributors from a dozen institutions across four countries. • Subcontract Manager and Cost Account Manager for all six GMT facility instruments, where I wrote SOWs, review proposals, monitor subcontract performance, track task/budget/schedule progress against baseline using EVMS processes, provide technical guidance, approve invoices and deliverables, and mentor and direct support staff. • At Ball Aerospace, I was the lead for Wavefront Sensing and Control thread across the entire international JWST program, coordinating end-to-end engineering in multiple disciplines from mission down to subsystem level. • I am experienced in growing and leading teams, engaging with customers, and coordinating and negotiating across international and institutions boundaries. • As an Astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, I co-discovered the first system of multiple planets orbiting another star (Upsilon Andromedae).