Executive Leadership

Douglas Stanley, President and Executive Director

✉️ douglas.stanley@nianet.org
Dr. Douglas O. Stanley has served as President and Executive Director of the National Institute of Aerospace since July 2012. In that position, he is responsible for all aspects of operations of a $30M/year major research, education, and outreach institute. He was selected for the position after serving since October 2011 as NIA’s Vice-President of Research and Program Development. In this position, Dr. Stanley oversaw NIA’s research programs and the continued expansion of the Institute’s research portfolio through leading teams that incorporate university faculty, NIA’s research staff, government laboratories and industry partners. Dr. Stanley previously served as a Principal Research Engineer on the Aerospace Engineering Faculty of Georgia Tech and Visiting Professor in Residence at NIA. He is an internationally recognized expert with over 25 years of experience leading the systems engineering and analysis of advanced space transportation systems and technology development in government, industry, and academia. In 2005, Dr. Stanley received the highest honor that NASA confers on a non-government employee, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, for his exceptional leadership of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS). The 400-person study defined the systems, schedule, programs, budgets, and technologies required to return humans to the Moon, service the International Space Station after Space Shuttle retirement, and eventually transport humans to Mars. He has also been selected as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Hampton Roads Section Engineer of the Year, AIAA Region 1 Engineer of the Year, and Engineer of the Year for the Peninsula Engineering Society. Prior to joining the faculty of Georgia Tech, Dr. Stanley served as Program Director, Advanced Flight Systems, for Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Advanced Programs Group (APG). While at Orbital, he led a range of business development activities related to advanced space flight systems and technologies, including some of the largest and most complex proposals in that company’s history. Before joining Orbital, Dr. Stanley had a 12-year career at NASA Langley Research Center and NASA Headquarters. During this time, he served as Senior Technical Advisor to the Head of NASA’s Reusable Launch Vehicle Program Office, which was responsible for all of NASA’s advanced space transportation research and development, including the X-33 and X-34 flight demonstrator programs. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and conference papers in the space transportation field and currently serves on the Space Transportation Technical Committees of both the AIAA and the International Astronautical Federation, in addition to AIAA’s Space Exploration Program Committee. Dr. Stanley holds a D.Sc., in Systems Engineering and Management from the George Washington University (2002), an M.S. in Astronautical Engineering, JIAFS Program from the George Washington University (1988), and B.S., in Mathematics from Baylor University (1986).

Carly Bosco, SENIOR DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS

✉️ carly.bosco@nianet.org
Ms. Carly A. Bosco has been with the National Institute of Aerospace since March, 2009. She began her current position as Senior Director, Research and Operations in June, 2023. In this role, she oversees the execution of NIA’s contract research portfolio with NASA, the FAA and other government and commercial collaborators. She also maintains responsibility for the Institute’s administrative functions, which include Contracts, Human Resources and Accounting. Prior to her current position, Ms. Bosco served as NIA’s Director of Research Programs. As Director of Research programs, she was primarily responsible for the execution of two NASA Langley contracts comprising of research projects totaling nearly $20M annually, along with a variety of smaller grants and contracts from other government entities and commercial partners. Ms. Bosco was promoted to the Director of Research Programs role in 2017 after serving as the Director of NASA Research Programs, a position she held from 2012. She joined the company in 2009 in the role of Deputy Director for NASA Langley Programs. Through these positions, Ms. Bosco maintained key focus on project execution and customer service excellence leading to exemplary ratings on the Institute’s annual ratings from NASA as a Prime Contractor. She also supported researchers and the Vice President of Research on new business initiatives. Before joining NIA, Ms. Bosco was a product engineer and project manager with IBM Corporation. At IBM, she worked in the Microelectronics Division supporting government and commercial Foundry customers. While working in the Foundry world, IBM created the Trusted Foundry Program in response to US Government identified needs for on-shore, cutting edge sourcing for mission and security critical microelectronics. Ms. Bosco joined the Trusted Foundry team as a Foundry Program Manager supporting the Trusted Access Program Office (TAPO). As a product engineer, Ms. Bosco was responsible for a variety of high volume commercial customer in both digital and RF designs. She also worked to standardize quality metrics and reporting between four manufacturing facilities on three continents. Ms. Bosco holds her M.S. Degree in Technology Management from the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2006) and a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan (2001).

Shelley Duguid Spears, PMP, Program and Business Development Director, Education and Outreach

✉️ shelley.spears@nianet.org
Ms. Spears has extensive experience leading and developing collaborative teams of experts in high-tech and K-20 education to develop and execute customized, dynamic programs to meet her client’s specific goals and objectives. She offers regional and national expertise including development and execution of rigorous, high-impact university student and faculty research challenges (TRL 1-6); science and engineering research communications; K-20 Integrative STEM programs; community and government relations initiatives for industry, government, academia, and not-for-profit businesses, including natural disasters response. She is experienced in competitive proposal development (technical merit, budgets, and contracts) and in program effectiveness research and evaluation. Ms. Spears leads an award-winning, high-performance team of certified Program Management Professionals (PMPs), program coordinators, science technical writers, and integrative STEM K-12 educational specialists. She applies diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility best practices and principles to her programs. Shelley currently serves at a Principal Investigator (PI) for: NASA eClips (NASA SMD); Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkages (RASC-AL); NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Systems Analysis Mission Directorate; NASA Human Lander Challenge, NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate; LaRC, MSFC; NASA Blue Skies Challenge, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate; NASA Floating Dragon Challenge, NASA, SMD; PI, NASA’s Breakthrough Innovative Game-changing (BIG) Idea Competition; NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate; NASA HQ and John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. She was previously the PI for 5 FAA University Challenges and numerous NASA programs. Her notable awards and recognition include three NASA Group Achievement Awards and two Capitol Region Emmy Awards for programs where she was a Principal Investigator. Prior to joining NIA, Shelley served as the Director, Community and Government Relations, Nortel Networks; Congressional Liasson Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Special Assistant and Regional Representative for US Senator Charles Robb. Ms. Spears has a Bachelor of Arts Degree (English and Political Science) from James Madison University. She is a certified Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute and has a certificate in Data Analysis from Cornell University. Prior to joining NIA, Shelley served as the Director, Community and Government Relations, Nortel Networks (RTP, Atlanta, DC); Congressional Liasson Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Special Assistant and Regional Representative for US Senator Charles Robb.

Harla Sherwood, Director Media Communication

✉️ harla.sherwood@nianet.org
As the Director of NIA’s Media Communications Group, Harla is responsible for developing and implementing a communications strategy to further the mission of NIA; and to develop, implement, and manage partnerships on both national and international basis with government, industry, foundation, and education institutions. As the Principal Investigator on numerous projects, Harla and her award-winning colleagues are responsible for programs including NASA 360; the Innovation Now radio program; NASA Home & City; First Woman – Issue #1 and #2; NASA iTech; the Exploration Design Challenge; and securing sponsorships to support NASA’s Apollo 40th Anniversary celebration at the Smithsonian (2009). Coordinated industry sponsorship and exhibits at the 2010 and 2011 NASA IT Summits; and TEDxNASA@Langley 2010 and TEDxNASA@SiliconValley 2011; and the 25th Anniversary of Hubble (2015).