Engineering Graduate
Helps Spacecraft
Fly Trouble-Free
One might say that spacecraft engineer Jeff Sincell has a lot of things up in the air. The 1974 magna cum laude graduate of WVU has built quite a strong reputation in the design, construction, and testing of spacecraft for the United States and several foreign nations.
Among these is the NASA Mars Global Surveyor, a spacecraft designed to map the surface of the planet Mars. Sincell's contribution to this interplanetary spacecraft's success led to his being awarded the Public Service Medal by NASA last year. He was one of only ten scientists and engineers nationally to receive this award.
A resident of Berlin Park, N.J., who grew up in Garrett County, Md., Sincell earned WVU degrees in electrical engineering and psychology, finishing second in his class in engineering. While employed by GE in Philadelphia after graduation he became an expert in designing and building spacecraft command and control systems.
About 20 years ago he started focusing on reliability engineering, doing worst case analysis, failure modes and effect analysis, reliability predictions, and safety and hazards analysis for more than 50 military, industrial, and commercial electronic systems.
In 1985 he started
his own company, Worst Case Associates, in which he and his wife,
the former Linda Hess ofMartinsburg, W.Va., provide aerospace
electronics mission assurance services. After working on the
failed Mars Observer mission from 1989-1993, Sincell helped design
the improved Mars Global Surveyor that was launched in 1996.
"Jeff's expertise was very critical in making sure that the faults leading to the demise of the Mars Observer were erased from the Global Surveyor," said Glenn Cunningham, Surveyor project manager.
Sincell said he was "very moved" by NASA's recognition of his work. "I was just one of hundreds of people who contributed to the Surveyor mission," he said. "The true prize is one the world's people can all share: the thrill of the successful operation of a complex machine that extends our eyesight hundreds of millions of miles to the surface of another world, and the advancement in our understanding of weather systems and geology the Surveyor data will offer."
Sincell is now at work on EOS-AMI, the first of a series of Earth Observing Satellites that will enhance knowledge of Earth's atmospheric and land surface properties.
Sincell said that when he was an undergraduate in the early
1970s, "WVU made it possible for those of limited means
to enter and compete effectively in the technical world."
He said WVU offered "an education value that far exceeded
its
overt cost.
"I frequently reflect on the enormous value of my WVU education," he said. "In effect, WVU made it possible for me to have the results of my handiwork in orbit around another planet! I encourage anyone with a technical inclination to consider the WVU College of Engineering [and Mineral Resources] as a starting point. The courses are tough and require personal sacrifice, but the rewards, both in personal satisfaction and in the opportunity to make real contributions to the advancement of civilization, are worth far more than the cost."
—with thanks to Don Sincell