Dr. Carol Kory

Vice President, Program Development and University Engagement
photo of Vice President, Program Development and University Engagement

Carol is an established leader in technology research and development, with over 30 years of experience in program management and planning, business development and strategy, and intellectual property protection within the academic, government, and commercial sectors.  She has published and presented over 200 technical papers at international conferences and in peer-reviewed journals, holds seven patents, and is the recipient of numerous NASA individual and team awards throughout her career.

Carol joined USRA in 2020 as Director, Low-Gravity Sciences where she managed the primary subcontract supporting the NASA Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) contract under HX5, LLC, and led USRA’s capture of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Destinations (CLD) program under Nanoracks, LLC.  While in this role, she also contributed to enhancements in NASA’s low-gravity propellant gauging technology, Radio Frequency Mass Gauge (RFMG), providing support to several commercial entities for NASA’s Human Landing System, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CPLS), and Tipping Point programs. Additionally, she contributed to Gateway, a critical part of NASA’s Artemis program, by providing analyses associated with the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) communications relay.

Other significant technical accomplishments include the integration of airborne environmental intelligence and situational awareness hardware in support of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). In addition, she developed the first accurate electromagnetic model for high power amplifiers that explained an anomaly in the NASA Cassini mission to Saturn. She also developed five prototype antennas for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Continuation Project; and performed electromagnetic analyses on the International Space Station (ISS) Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) testbed antennas prior to launch.

In her previous positions she served as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Technology at Teraphysics Corporation, Director of Business Development at Vencore Services and Solutions, and Director of Technology at QinetiQ North America.

Carol holds a B.S. from the University of Dayton, and M.S. and doctoral degrees from Cleveland State University, all in electrical engineering.