John Dankanich

Chief Technologist | NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center

John is the Chief Technologist of the Marshall Space Flight Center. The MSFC team is approximately 7,000 Civil Servants and Contractors. His role is to serve as the champion of innovation and foster a culture of continuous improvement. He is a recognized subject matter expert in advanced propulsion technology, system testing and mission design. In his role, he helps prioritize investments in technologies to support future needs of NASA and the US Space Sector. Mr. Dankanich has also served as the project manager for both technology development and flight projects through the full project life cycle. Mr. Dankanich has taught mission design courses throughout the agency, as a guest professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and leads a space entrepreneur and proposal writing course through Arizona State University. Mr. Dankanich remains actively engaged with technology development and/or prioritization efforts within NASA, DoD, industry and academia.