NASA Glenn Academy 2006

NASA Academy 2006
Glenn Research Center
GRC Academy Home

Dr. M. David Kankam

Director - NASA Glenn Academy 2006
Mark.D.Kankam@nasa.gov

Dr. Kankam joined the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in March ’90, as a Senior Research Engineer in the ‘Power and On-Board Propulsion Technology Division’. He currently serves as the University Affairs Officer in University Programs Office in GRC’s Research and Technology Directorate, with oversight responsibility for GRC research community collaboration with academia, in support of the Center research programs.

Dr. Kankam earned his Diploma in Business Admin. (Mgt. Studies), and Ph.D., M.A.Sc. and B.A.Sc. (Applied Science & Engineering) degrees in Elect. Engineering from the U. of Toronto, Canada. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Ontario/Canada, a member of the Canadian Society of Professional Engineers, a Life Senior Member of the IEEE, and its Industry Application Society (IAS). He is the current chairman of the Industrial Automation and Control Committee of the IEEE/IAS.

Dr. Kankam was a Research Officer in the R/D Division-Ontario Ministry of Transportation & Communications (MTC), Toronto/Canada, from Dec.’73 to Aug.’77. He was then employed as an Engineer at Ontario Hydro, Toronto/Canada, from Sept.’77 to Feb.’79. He was an Application Engineer at General Electric Company in Schenectady, NY, from March ‘79 to March ’90.

He served on the GRC’s Fellowship Selection Committee for several years, Technical Review Teams, Panel of Evaluators for NASA Research and Internship Programs, and as GRC’s Technical Representative of NASA ‘Faculty Awards for Research’ Program from ’92 to ’97. He has proctored and mentored summer Faculty Fellows and Student Interns, respectively, to complement in-house research programs. He was selected as a NASA Administrator Fellow from ’97 to ’99. During the ’97-’98 academic year he was a Visiting Professor in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Howard Univ., in Washington D.C., where he taught “Energy Conversion”, and co-developed the “Automation and Control Laboratory.” Subsequently, he was a Visiting Research Engineer at the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham, England.

He was appointed Acting Chief of the ‘Electro-Mechanical Systems Branch’, from Nov. ‘00 to March ‘01. Subsequently, he served as a Strategic Planning Manager in the Aeropropulsion Research Program Office, in support of Aerospace Propulsion and Power Programs. As a former senior research engineer, he planned and performed research, and managed, identified and consulted on the development of power and power electronics-based systems for aerospace and terrestrial applications. He has authored/co-authored over fifty technical reports, and more than sixty refereed publications on the dynamics and control of power and electronics-based systems.