Dr. Alison Nordt is the Director for Space Science and Instrumentation at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center. She is responsible for developing and operating missions that provide observational data to advance space science knowledge. Her work involves maturing technology to support current and future space-based telescopes and instruments. She is currently the Principal Investigator for TechMAST (Technology Maturation for Astrophysics Space Telescopes) and related internal research and development efforts. Dr. Nordt is a member of the Science Technology Architecture Review Team that will guide devlopment activities for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO).

Previously, Dr. Nordt was the senior manager for Astrophysics and held several roles on the NIRCam (Near Infrared Camera for the Webb Telescope) program including Principal Engineer, Program Manager and Integrated Product Team Lead. She was responsible for the design, development, testing and delivery of the NIRCam instrument including optics, structures, mechanisms, electronics and software. She also held responsibility for programmatic performance including cost and schedule execution and post-delivery support.

Dr. Nordt holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. She is an AIAA Associate Fellow, member of the International Academy of Astronautics, serves on the Board of the Planetary Science Institute and was named the 2023 AIAA Engineer of the Year.