Safety and Mission Assurance Awards & Conferences
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LastModified:
February 21, 2007
QASAR stands for Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition. Click on the QASAR Button to learn more about this award
The NASA George M. Low Award is NASA's premier quality and performance award for NASA's prime and subcontractors. Click on the GML Button to learn more about this award.
J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
RELEASE: 07-22
NASA PRESENTS QUALITY AWARDS TO TELEDYNE AND BARRIOS
WASHINGTON - NASA presented its highest honor for quality and technical performance, the George M. Low Award, to two companies committed to innovative management, process quality and customer service. The awards, containing a medallion alloyed with material flown to the moon on Apollo 11, were presented Tuesday at NASA's fourth annual Project Management Challenge Conference in Galveston, Texas.
Teledyne Brown Engineering, nominated by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., received the large business service award.
Barrios Technologies, nominated by NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, received the small business service award. Three finalists also were acknowledged - Honeywell Technology Solutions Incorporated, Columbia, Md., Arcata Associates, Las Vegas, Nev., and Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Senior managers and engineers from government and industry attend the Project Management Challenge Conference. The conference is a forum for NASA and its contractor partners to exchange ideas, success stories and lessons learned. It provides participants the opportunity to learn about quality management and improved communication practices to apply in their own organizations.
Established in 1985, NASA's Excellence Award for Quality and Productivity recognizes those in the contractor community whose quality management practices can be a global benchmark for excellence. In 1990, the award was renamed in memory of George M.
Low, an outstanding NASA leader who contributed greatly during his 27 year tenure and was deputy administrator from 1969-1976. Low was a leader in the early development of NASA's space and manned space flight programs.
For more information about the George M. Low Award, visit:
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/gml/
For more information about George M. Low, visit:
http://history.nasa.gov/Biographies/low.html
For more information about the George M. Low Award, the QASAR Award, or the conference, call Kelly Kabiri, Conference and Quality Awards Director within the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters on (202) 358-0590.
Photographs from the 2006 NICE Conference where the George M. Low Trophy and the QASAR Awards were presented can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
Photographs from the 2005 Continual Improvement Conference where the George M. Low Trophy and the QASAR Awards were presented can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
NASA'S HIGHEST HONORS FOR QUALITY AWARDED AT THE 19TH CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT AND REINVENTION CONFERENCE
Five U.S. companies committed to innovative management, quality and customer service have received NASA's George M. Low Award, the Agency's highest honor for quality and technical performance and the nation's oldest award for organizational quality.
NASA has been a leader in the national quality movement for more than 20 years. Established in 1985, NASA's Excellence Award for Quality and Productivity encouraged quality practices in the contractor community. In 1990, this award was renamed the George M. Low Award in memory of George M. Low, an outstanding NASA leader who contributed greatly to the early development of NASA space programs during his 27 years of service. The George M. Low trophy contains a medallion alloyed with material flown to the Moon and back on Apollo 11 in 1969, the first manned lunar landing mission.
NASA Acting Administrator Frederick D. Gregory presented the 2004 George M. Low Awards on March 2, 2005, at the 19th NASA Continual Improvement and Reinvention Conference on Quality Management in Alexandria, VA. Senior managers and engineers attend the conference from Government and industry. It provides a forum for NASA and its contractor partners to exchange ideas, success stories and lessons learned - providing the opportunity for participants to apply quality management practices in their own organizations.
Alliance Spacesystems, Inc., of Pasadena, CA, nominated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, received the award for small business product. Northrop Grumman Space Technology, of Redondo Beach, CA, nominated by Goddard Space Flight Center, took the award for large business product. ERC, Inc., of Huntsville, AL, nominated by Marshall Space Flight Center, won the award for small business service. This year, two companies tied in the large business service category. The awards went to Space Gateway Support, LLC, of Cape Canaveral, FL, nominated by Kennedy Space Center, and Titan Corporation, of Fairfax, VA, nominated by Goddard Space Flight Center.
The George M. Low Award demonstrates
NASA's commitment to promote excellence and continual improvement by challenging
the NASA contractor community to be a global benchmark of quality management
practices. Each recipient was evaluated according to seven criteria. These
criteria included not only performance, cost and schedule, but also innovation,
management leadership, alignment of organizational goals with NASA's strategic
plans, customer orientation and adherence to the quality management philosophy.
Also at the conference, Mr. Gregory presented the prestigious QASAR (Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition) Award to four people; one NASA civil service employee, one U.S. Air Force civil service employee, and two NASA contractors. The award program recognizes Government and contractor employees at NASA Headquarters and the Centers who have displayed or exhibited exemplary performance in contributing to quality products and services in safety and mission assurance related activities.
The following individuals were presented a QASAR Award: Dr. Nancy J. Currie and Dr. Rajiv Kohli, nominated by Johnson Space Center, James Donaldson, nominated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and DoD civilian Dennis Drain, nominated by Dryden Flight Research Center.
These individuals were selected by the QASAR Award Board from 17 nominations submitted by all of the NASA Centers and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mr. Gregory presented each of the winners with the QASAR Award plaque.
"The George M. Low and the QASAR Awards both represent the across the board excellence that we are trying to achieve when it comes setting the gold standard for safety, quality and mission success," said Mr. Gregory.
For more information about the George M. Low Award, the QASAR Award, or the conference, call Kelly Kabiri, Conference and Quality Awards Director within the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters on (202) 358-0590.
Click Here to see ALCOA CEO Alain Belda's presentation from the 2005 Continual Improvement Conference
Photographs from the 2004 Continual Improvement Conference where the George M. Low Trophy and the QASAR Awards were presented can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
Responsible NASA official:Kelly Kabiri / OSMA,
Curator: Bill Loewy / Safety and Assurance Requirements Division
