Matt Ondler

Matthew Ondler (born April 15, 1963) is the president and co-founder of Houston Mechatronics. Previously, he was the lead manager of the software, robotics, and simulation division of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Ondler earned his BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. He then moved to Houston, TX, where he began a 28 year career at NASA Johnson Space Center. While at NASA he achieved his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Houston and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University.

R. Matthew Ondler

Early life

Ondler was born and raised in Casper Wyoming. He graduated from Natrona County High School, the same high school his parents had graduated from two decades earlier.

Career

NASA

Beginning at NASA, Ondler worked as an aerospace engineer in the Advanced Programs office and worked on the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE), Mars Rover Sample Return, among many other advanced program initiatives. Later he was named Mission Manager for SPIFEX, a primary Space Shuttle experiment that flew aboard STS-64 from 1992 to 1994. Then he became International Integration Manager for Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) for the ISS Program. He created and managed the GN&C Hardware/Software Integration Test Facility in 1996 that is still used to this day. From 1997 to 2001 he was Deputy Branch Chief of the GN&C branch. In 1999 he led the Abort Improvement Team in the Space Shuttle Program office that was chartered with closing all ascent loss of vehicle/loss of crew abort scenarios. This effort led to all abort "black zones" being eliminated. After that assignment Ondler was selected as the Deputy Division Chief of the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division where he served until 2006. In 2006 he was asked to lead the Biomedical Systems Division, the division was responsible for all crew related health and medical equipment and flew over a 1000 pieces of flight hardware under his tenure. In 2007 Ondler was asked to lead the Software, Robotics and Simulation Division, an organization renowned for its leadership in robotics. Under his tenure the division produced Robonaut2, Lunar Electric Rover, Valkrie, and other robotic breakthroughs.

Ondler then managed NASA's Project Morpheus, a VTVL rocket landing test platform and a project to send a humanoid robot to the moon, based on the operational Robonaut 2. According to SpaceNews, Ondler pitched the mission concept but official support was limited.[1] The project was backed by Johnson Space Center Engineering Director Stephen Altemus.[2][3] The program using relatively little funding according to Altemus, successfully flew the lander prototype multiple times, demonstrating a low-cost lander was viable.[4] Ondler, in a statement to Space.com, stated that the program in part demonstrated NASA's ability to work efficiently with little resources to build a substantial program. [5]

After 28 years of service Mr. Ondler left NASA as the Assistant Director of Engineering at the Johnson Space Center.[6]

Mr. Ondler is the recipient of NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal and NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Executive work

After his 28 year career at NASA, he performed business & proposal development, strategic planning, program management, lead corporate innovation initiatives, and served as the company deputy chief engineer for Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, a $600 million-a-year engineering services company.[7] As a business executive, he performed business development, proposal development, strategic planning, program management, lead corporate innovation initiatives, and served as the company deputy chief engineer for Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, a $600 million-a-year engineering services company.

In March 2014, he co-founded the company Houston Mechatronics, a firm specialized in mechatronics and robotics, where he serves as the president and CEO of the corporation and oversees all company activities and functions.[8][9] Houston Mechatronics Inc. has raised two funding rounds, most recently a Series B investment of $20M from Schlumberger and Transocean International. [10] The company is currently developing Aquanaut, a transformative subsea robot designed to perform commercial work in Oil and Gas and to perform critical work for the Department of Defense. [11] [12][13]

gollark: Or secrets which you don't want to get out, say.
gollark: "Real" antimemes don't do this because you know about their existence/can perceive them, but just don't want to spread them for whatever reason.
gollark: They would be made anomalously inclined to ignore chains of logic which might lead to "thus antimeme".
gollark: It's not exactly very internally consistent, but humans are *masters* of rationalization.
gollark: It happens still, but they don't know why, and are unable to infer the presence of the antimeme from it.

References
  1. http://spacenews.com/nasa-engineers-working-make-robot-moonwalk-reality/
  2. http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nasas-quest-to-send-a-robot-to-the-moon-437999
  3. http://electronicdesign.com/author/matt-ondler
  4. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2011/J11-009.html
  5. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42977317/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/unleashed-nasa-test-untethered-lander/#.Vq_Z7k_luig
  6. "Matt Ondler | Electronic Design". www.electronicdesign.com. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  7. http://electronicdesign.com/author/matt-ondler
  8. https://www.linkedin.com/company/10001510?trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A10001510%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1455638945469%2Ctas%3Ahouston%20mechatr
  9. http://electronicdesign.com/embedded/qa-houston-mechatronics-rise-robotics-and-robobusiness-2015
  10. Ackerman, Evan (2018-04-26). "Houston Mechatronics Raises $20M to Bring NASA Expertise to Transforming Robot Submersibles". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  11. www.navyrecognition.com http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2018/april-2018-navy-naval-defense-news/6175-houston-mechatronics-unveils-aquanaut-shape-shifting-underwater-robot.html. Retrieved 2019-02-06. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "OTC 2018: Houston Mechatronics introduces subsea robot". www.offshore-mag.com. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  13. roboticsandautomationnews.com https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2018/05/01/houston-mechatronics-raises-20m-for-sub-sea-robot-development/17031/. Retrieved 2019-02-06. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

  1. https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2016/Q1/startup-licenses-purdue-technology-to-help-make-robotics,-electric-cars-more-efficient,-cost-effective.html
  2. http://houstonmechatronics.com/who-we-are/
  3. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2011/03/29/project-morpheus-lunar-lander-apollo.html
  4. http://thesiliconreview.com/magazines/we-provide-turn-key-robotic-solutions-that-span-the-entire-product-development-life-cycle-houston-mechatronics-inc/
  5. SGT Inc [@SGTInc] (20 September 2012). "Congratulations to SGTer, Matt Ondler, on his recent recognition and receipt of the NASA Exceptional Achievement..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/science/space/02robot.html
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.