AKIPRESS.COM - US space agency NASA appointed an Indian-American Bhavya Lal as the acting Chief of Staff of the agency, Makers India reported.

NASA in a statement said that, Bhavya brings ‘extensive experience’ in engineering and space technology, serving as a member of the research staff at the Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020.

During this period, she led the analysis of space technology, strategy, and policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Space Council, as well as federal space-oriented organizations like NASA and the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence community.

She was a member of the Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for NASA, and oversaw the agency’s transition under the administration of President Joe Biden.

As the Acting Chief of Staff, Bhavya will be responsible for day-to-day operations at NASA’s headquarters, and will work towards shaping the strategic direction of the space agency.

She will also assume responsibility as Senior Adviser for Budget and Finance at NASA.

Bhavya was earlier an External Council member of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts Program, and was part of the Technology, Innovation and Engineering Advisory Committee of the NASA Advisory Council.

Being an active member of the space technology and policy community, she has chaired, co-chaired, and served on five high-impact National Academy of Science committees.

She co-founded and is co-chair of the policy track of the American Nuclear Society's annual conference on Nuclear and Emerging Technologies in Space (Nets) and co-organizes a seminar series on space history and policy with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

For her many contributions to the space sector, she was nominated and selected to be a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics, the statement said.

Additionally, Bhavya has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

She has served on high-impact National Academy of Science committees including two consecutive terms on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing.