Ball Aerospace has two new directors at its Washington Operations that will be instrumental in supporting efforts in government relations and space science policy.
The director of Space Science is Dr. Raha Hakimdavar who will be leading efforts to advance Ball’s civil space programs and pursuits with key stakeholders, including NASA, NOAA, Office of Science and Technology Policy and the broader space sciences community.
The director of Government Relations is defense and intelligence space veteran Tom McIntyre who joins Ball advocating for the company’s defense and intelligence programs with Congress and the Executive Branch.
“We are excited to welcome both Raha and Tom, who will play critical roles in expanding and enhancing Ball’s position as a trusted and valuable mission partner,” said Deirdre Walsh, vice president, Strategic Operations, Ball Aerospace. “Each brings extensive knowledge and experience working across multiple public and private sector entities to build relationships, inform key stakeholders and shape policy.”
McIntyre comes to Ball Aerospace from the Air Force where he most recently served as deputy director, Office of Space Launch at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Previously, he led legislative liaison efforts for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), leading Congressional engagement efforts for Intelligence Community spacecraft programs. After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1996, he earned a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1998.
Prior to joining Ball Aerospace, Hakimdavar served as a hydrologist and acting national program lead for the U.S. Forest Service’s remote sensing, monitoring and geospatial analysis research activities. One of her two Presidential Management Fellowship appointments was with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she coordinated research and applications for various Earth science disciplines across NASA centers and headquarters. She earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University and a Masters of Science and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in civil engineering with an emphasis on hydrology from Columbia University. Hakimdavar was granted a NAF-Fulbright Research Scholarship to the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands to support her doctoral research on land cover change and hydrology.
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