Pearson named ATA deputy general manager

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) General Manager Dr. David Elrod recently announced that ATA's Board of Directors has appointed Steve Pearson to be to be the contract's next deputy general manager. 

"His prior experience outside of AEDC [Arnold Engineering Development Center], his broad role as deputy general manager over all test operations, coupled with his firsthand experience leading two enterprise-spanning departments within ATA gives Steve an exceptionally broad and deep experience base that will serve him well as our next deputy general manager," Dr. Elrod said. 

Pearson brings more than 35 years of experience to this role. He began his career in the 1970s as a turbine engine project engineer in the Engine Test Facility at AEDC and later as a lead test engineer for Sverdrup. 

In 1985, Pearson transferred to Sverdrup's Technology Group in Tullahoma and served in engineering, marketing and management positions for automotive and aerospace test facilities. 

There he was assigned responsibilities for the development of Sverdrup's automotive and aerospace business in North America, Australia and South Korea. 

From 1988-1998, he served as program manager for the master planning, design, construction support and commissioning of Chrysler's Scientific Test Facilities in Auburn Hills, Mich., the largest and most technically advanced collection of automotive testing facilities in the world. 

He was named a Sverdrup Technology vice president in 1991. From 1999 to 2002, he served as the program manager for the construction of the Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 

His 500-person team was responsible for building construction, installation and integration of mechanical and electro-optical hardware of what is now the world's most powerful laser system designed to support national defense and fusion power research. 

NIF was dedicated this month after a full capability demonstration. Upon his return to AEDC in 2002, he served as deputy general manager of Jacob Sverdrup's AEDC Test Contract (Effort T). 

In October 2003, Pearson assumed a newly created role as the first director of ATA's Resource Provisioning Department laying the foundation for that organization's successful operation. 

He moved from there to his current role as director of the Projects and Design Engineering department. In this position he was responsible for the capital improvement projects at AEDC as well as engineering design for test support and maintenance. 

According to Dr. Elrod, the selection process for a successor to the director of Projects and Design Engineering, Pearson's prior assignment, has begun. Pearson will still serve in a dual-hat capacity, as deputy general manager and as director of the project and design engineering department, until that process is concluded. 

Pearson has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Tennessee Technological University (TTU). Pearson has been an 18-year member of the Dean of Engineering's Advisory Board and was selected as a TTU Engineer of Distinction in 2005.