Join us to hear from Steve Cook, Deputy Group President and Operations Manager, on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at the Breakfast Club. 

Date: Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Breakfast 7:15 AM | Program 7:45 AM

Location: The Jackson Center | 6001 Moquin Drive Huntsville, Alabama 35806

Stephen Cook is the deputy group president at Dynetics. He initiates, supports, and integrates strategies, partnerships, emerging business opportunities, and new cutting-edge products. He works across the company in the national defense, cybersecurity, and space sectors. He is also the operations manager for the Leidos Innovations Center, the corporation's innovation engine for technology acceleration.

Cook joined the company in 2009 as the director of space technologies. He led Dynetics' efforts in launch systems, orbital spacecraft and analysis, planetary exploration, and nanotechnology research until 2013.

Before joining the team, Cook enjoyed a long and successful career at NASA. He served as the deputy manager of NASA's Marshall's Space Transportation Programs and Projects Office where he planned and directed research, technology, and development activities for future generations of space transportation. For more ambitious scientific exploration missions of the solar system, he oversaw advanced propulsion systems. Following that, Cook was the manager of the Ares Projects Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville from 2005-2009. He was responsible for overall project management and direction of NASA's Ares I and V launch vehicles. Because of his significant achievements in this position, he won the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2009.

A career full of honors typifies Cook's success and talent.

He received the NASA Outstanding Achievement Medal in 1999 for exceptional accomplishments in the area of space transportation. He was a nominee in 2000 for the Rotary Stellar Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements by individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to the future of the U.S. space program. He was awarded a NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 2006 for his outstanding efforts as a member of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study; the Holger Toftoy Award in 2006 from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), recognizing outstanding technical management by a section member in aeronautics and astronautics; the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2007 for his exemplary management of the Exploration Launch Projects Office" and the 2018 Werhner von Braun Community Service Award. He was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2019.

Cook served his country as a member of President Donald Trump's NASA Transition Team. Cook also currently serves on the Space Transportation Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, the Space Transportation Technical Committee of the AIAA where he is a fellow, and the Industrial Advisory Committee for the Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Alabama.

Cook holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics from the University of Minnesota. In 2008, he attended the Harvard Business School's Leading Product Development Course. He is certified in federal acquisition. In addition, he has authored over 20 papers on advanced space propulsion and launch systems and was a contributing author of the 1997 McGraw-Hill Aerospace Yearbook.

https://www.dynetics.com/about/leadership/steve-cook