Fred Slane
Due to my father’s involvement in international business, in my younger years my family traveled extensively. Dad lived in China and the Philippines from 1932 until the end of WWII, and his experiences in those times put him in high demand in Far East business circles. My siblings and I (seven of us) attended schools in Manila, Portland (Oregon) and Hawaii. Perhaps because of our earlier travels, I have always viewed the countries of the world as interesting, complex and eternally changing. An off-hand remark by my mother when I was four sparked my interest in science, engineering and the world our children will inherit. From my earliest memories my perspective has been global and technical, with a strong sense of our place in history. My formal post-secondary education includes: a BA in Physics and Mathematics from Willamette University in 1980; a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1983; an MS in Physics (Astrophysics) from the University of New Mexico in 1993; and, an MBA, International Business from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2008. I wrote the paper, “The Space Innovator’s Dilemma” as a final project in my MBA program. My professional background includes 20 years of Air Force active duty. This includes STS launch operations and engineering, Mark XV IFFN test, spacecraft sensor and communications R&D, operational test, and joint/combined space operations. Following my retirement from the Air Force in 2001, I spent two years as a senior engineer at Ball Aerospace. I founded Space Infrastructure, Inc. and Space Infrastructure Foundation (a 501(c)(3)) in 2003. In 2003 I returned to the AF as a reserve officer to serve another six years. I sold Space Infrastructure in 2006 to Space Environment Technologies. Since 2009 I have worked at the Colorado Springs office of Technology Service Corporation. I began my involvement in standards development for the space industry in 1998, anticipating retirement from the Air Force and what I might do as a civilian. I have served on the AIAA Standards Executive Council for most of that time, and do so today. I was a member of the Space Launch Integration Committee on Standards and have supported several AIAA contracted efforts on Space Launch Integration to the NRO. I also support the Committee on Standards for Space Plug and Play Avionics. For the past six years I have been active in the ISO subcommittee for space systems and operations. My initial involvement was through the operations and ground support working group, representing the interests of the joint defense space community. In 2002 I was invited to be one of only two US working group leads in this subcommittee. I still have that job. In 2003 I became involved with the ISO subcommittee for space data and information transfer. I am currently one of the US leads in the development of a business plan for a single standards committee in the international regime for space. This committee will focus international standards development to the appropriate normalization of global intellectual property, for the purpose of advancement of the global industry.