Wilson B. Harkins, III
NASA Headquarters
Office of Safety and Mission Assurance
Mission Support Division
Washington, D. C. 20546-0001

Mr. Harkins is a 1979 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.  Upon graduating from Rensselaer, he joined the United States Navy’s Civilian Logistics Intern Program in the Quality and Reliability Assurance discipline.  In addition to the formal quality and reliability training that he received in the Navy’s intern program, he received practical quality and reliability training through work assignments with the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair in Seattle, Washington, the Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk, Virginia, the Naval Electronics Systems Engineering Center also in Norfolk, and Headquarters, United States Marine Corps in Washington, D. C.  Upon completion of the Navy intern program in 1982, Mr. Harkins was assigned to the Product Assurance Section of the Installations and Logistics Department at Headquarters, United States Marine Corps.  His responsibilities included development and implementation of reliability, maintainability, quality assurance and configuration management policies and requirements in Marine Corps acquisitions.  Mr. Harkins became the Head of the Product Assurance Section in July 1985.

In October 1988, Mr. Harkins joined the Safety and Product Assurance Office in NASA’s Space Station Freedom Program Office located in Reston, Virginia.  Within the Safety and Product Assurance Office, he served as the Reliability/Maintainability Assurance and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Manager.  In late 1993, when NASA reorganized and relocated the Space Station Program to Houston, Texas, Mr. Harkins joined the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters.  During his time at Headquarters, Mr. Harkins has served as the Supplier Assurance Manager, Manager of Mechanical Parts, Alert Reporting Manager, Reliability and Maintainability Staff Engineer, and architect of the NASA Safety and Mission Assurance Documentation suite.  He was one of the principle developers of the Agency's initial Web-based training system, the Site for Online Learning and Resources (SOLAR) and was a member of the team that transitioned the SOLAR capabilities to the current NASA Learning Management System, the System for Administration, Training, and Educational Resources for NASA (SATERN).  He is currently the Acting Director of the Mission Support Division in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.

August 9, 2007