Washington: Indian-American Bhavya Lal was on Monday appointed by NASA as the Acting Chief of Staff of the US space agency; she will be responsible for the day-to-day operations at NASA’s headquarters.
According to NASA, Lal brings “extensive experience” in engineering and space technology, serving as a member of the research staff at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020.
There, she led the analysis of space technology, strategy, and policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Space Council, as well as federal space-oriented organisations, including NASA, the Department of Defence, and the intelligence community, the US space agency said in a statement on Monday.
She also served as a member of the Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team.
Lal earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in nuclear engineering, as well as a Master of Science degree in technology and policy, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and holds a doctorate in public policy and public administration from George Washington University.
She is a member of both the nuclear engineering and public policy honour societies.
For her many contributions to the space sector, she was nominated and selected to be a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the statement said.
