<![CDATA[Avatar Technologies - Blog]]>Wed, 26 Feb 2025 02:27:27 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Consolidated Operations Management Engineering and Test (COMET)]]>Mon, 06 Mar 2023 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/comet
The Avatar team is excited for the opportunity to continue our support to Jacobs Technology Inc. at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through the Consolidated Operations, Management, Engineering and Test (COMET) contract.

This contract was awarded to our prime partner, Jacobs Technology Inc., and has a potential value of approximately $3.2 billion over a period of 10 years. The COMET contract support is scheduled to commence on May 1, 2023, and it will provide ground and launch operations support to several KSC programs, including the Artemis missions.
COMET will succeed the KSC Test and Operations Support Contract (TOSC). As a proven Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, and Woman-Owned Small Business partner on TOSC, Avatar has supported Jacobs in performing various IT functions, software development and testing, hardware systems engineering and integration, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering, as well as launch command system development and support.
We warmly welcome all incumbent TOSC employees that will join the Avatar team under the new COMET contract. We look forward to being a part of the Jacobs team as NASA launches the historic Artemis missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond!
]]><![CDATA[AVATAR AT 70TH INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL CONGRESS 2019]]>Fri, 25 Oct 2019 11:14:17 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-at-70th-international-astronautical-congress-2019
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Avatar CEO & President, Kajal Pancholi, PE has been invited to lead the Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics Panel - First Woman on the Moon at the 70th International Astronautical Congress. Hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the event will take place in Washington D.C., United States from 21 – 25 October 2019. 
At this event, space players will gather to discuss the advancement and progress of space in its various features; in particular this year, the IAC will commemorate that “one giant leap for mankind”: the 50th anniversary of a feat once thought impossible: humans walking on the moon, and celebrate the international accomplishments and partnerships that have become the hallmarks of space exploration. ​

​IAC 2019 will involve everyone offering a rich program of Plenaries, Highlight Lectures, Technical lectures as well as a Global Networking Forum and many social events abundant in networking opportunities.

We look forward to connecting with global industry leaders and helping shape the future of space exploration.
​Image & Knowledge Credit:  AIAA & IAC
]]><![CDATA[NASA Business Opportunities Expo 2019]]>Tue, 15 Oct 2019 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/nasa-business-opportunities-expo-2019
The Avatar team will be participating in the 2019 NASA Business Opportunities Expo that is being sponsored by the NASA KSC Prime Contractor Board, U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing and Canaveral Port Authority. The event will be held in Cape Canaveral, FL on 23rd October from 9 AM - 3 PM. This year, the Expo will feature around 200 business and government exhibitors and specially highlight Women-Owned Small Businesses, like Avatar Technologies, Inc., as well as other socioeconomic categories.
Representatives from each NASA centers, Patrick Air Force Base 45th Space Wing, prime contractors and other many government agencies will be available to answer questions about how to do business with their respective organizations. 

​We look forward to meeting with NASA and industry partners to explore collaboration opportunities. If you are attending the event, please stop by our booth to learn more about our technical capabilities and how we exceed our customers’ cost, schedule, risk & quality requirements every time.
Knowledge & image credits: NASA Office of Small Business 
]]><![CDATA[MEET The AVATAR Team AT THE Space & Missile Defense symposium]]>Thu, 01 Aug 2019 17:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/meet-the-avatar-team-at-the-space-missile-defense-symposium
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Meet the Avatar team at the upcoming Space and Missile Defense (SMD) symposium scheduled from August 6-8, 2019 in Huntsville, AL. The SMD symposium is the leading educational, professional development and networking event in the space and missile defense community. The symposium will be widely attended by leaders and professionals from the United States and around the world. Key features of this year’s symposium included the following:
  • Technology track presentations
  • Tuesday evening networking event
  • Wednesday evening dinner 
  • Presentations from senior level national and international leaders
  • Industry and technology panels
  • Exhibit Hall featuring technology and product demonstration

​Image & Knowledge Credit: SMD Symposium
]]><![CDATA[Avatar Awarded NASA Certificate of Appreciation]]>Tue, 02 Apr 2019 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-awarded-nasa-certificate-of-appreciation-april-2-2019
Avatar team member, Jackie Johnson was awarded a KLXS-II Certificate of Appreciation for his exceptional support to the Operations Future Payload Planning activities. His direct NASA customer specifically recognized Jackie’s invaluable payload integration knowledge and experience. Through his thorough analysis, Jackie identified a payload lifting requirements gap potentially affecting critical ground support equipment dimensions. His early risk recognition potentially saved the customer significant time and cost resources. 

​Congratulations, Jackie!
]]><![CDATA[Celebrating Women's History Month]]>Sat, 30 Mar 2019 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/celebrating-womens-history-monthOf the 63 women who have ever flown in space, 37 of them have spent time on board the International Space Station. In honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a look at a few of the women who have made history doing scientific research in Earth orbit. Join us in celebrating one of the many achievements of women in space.
]]><![CDATA[Avatar Awarded NASA Certificate of Appreciation]]>Fri, 08 Feb 2019 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-awarded-nasa-certificate-of-appreciation
Avatar team member Carl Villanueva was awarded a KLXS-II Certificate of Appreciation for his excellent work on the Weekly Forum Summary.  His direct NASA customer specifically recognized Carl’s invaluable insights into each forum’s operations and background, as well as sending out high-quality Weekly Forum Summary to over 2,000 mission stakeholders. 

Congratulations, Carl!
]]><![CDATA[Avatar Intern Presented with NASA Innovation Award]]>Mon, 20 Aug 2018 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-intern-presented-with-nasa-innovation-awardIntern Hunter Goodenow, along with two other NASA interns, took second place at the “Innovation Without Boundaries” event for their Mobile Acronym Search Tool (MAST). Impressively, this was a NASA Kennedy Space Center campus-wide event, not just specific to interns. His team’s tool enables access to NASA acronyms via mobile devices and will ultimately provide acronym access to the entire NASA workforce and the public. 
​Working at NASA means being exposed to hundreds, even thousands of acronyms from VAB, to OCC, to OPOV, to TCN. Obviously, it’s not hard to get confused. Acronyms like SPS could have six different meanings! Is it Solar Power Satellite, or Service Propulsion Subsystem? Maybe it’s something completely different. The beauty of MAST (which, ironically, is an acronym itself) is that it limits this confusion by offering easier acronym access.
 
Hunter originally pitched the idea in passing to his supervisors. At this point, it was just a creative thought. The problem he identified was that too much time is spent teaching employees’ acronyms opposed to actual “ideas” or substantial information.  “There are so many acronyms out here, the person who invents the acronym app will be a hero to all new hires and interns.”
 What makes Hunter so valuable to Avatar is that his passion fuels the creation of his imaginative ideas. He has become the acronym hero!  Hunter and his team submitted a simple, one slide, two-minute presentation to a panel of about 30 people from different innovation disciplines and came out with a second-place ribbon!
 
Hunter’s MAST idea has the potential to greatly impact the Kennedy Space Center community by easing a burden that most employees have simply come to accept as unchangeable. This is just one example of how Avatar team members are difference makers. We are proud to recognize Hunter’s enthusiasm and contribution for creating this outstanding innovative solution.
]]><![CDATA[Avatar Sponsors University of Maryland QUEST Continuous Improvement Project]]>Thu, 03 May 2018 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-sponsors-university-of-maryland-quest-continuous-improvement-project
Avatar values the importance of giving back to local educational institutions. By partnering with the Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) Honors program at the University of Maryland, Avatar CEO and QUEST alumnus, Kajal Pancholi, had the unique opportunity to mentor future engineering and business professionals through a semester-long capstone project.
QUEST is a co-curricular, hand on program that focuses on quality management, process improvement, system design, and real-world problem solving. It combines diverse knowledge and skills to enhance the professional and personal development of its students.  Four UMD students, from varying scholastic disciplines, banded together to begin creating Avatar’s ISO compliant quality management system. The teams progress by the end of the semester proved to set a strong foundation for the company to become ISO 9001 certified in the near future.

​The QUEST team, which included Avatar’s Summer 2018 intern Devin Rosen, presented their findings and recommendations at the Annual QUEST Conference. The experience was extremely fulfilling and mutually beneficial, offering business experience for the students and real progress for Avatar towards achieving its ISO goals.
 
As a QUEST sponsor, Avatar is in good company. Other corporate sponsors included Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Leidos, IBM, GE, Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, AT&T, PWC, Bloomberg, and Booz Allen Hamilton.
]]><![CDATA[Avatar Appoints New CEO]]>Sat, 01 Oct 2016 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.avatartechs.com/blog/avatar-technologies-appoints-new-ceoAvatar Technologies appoints Kajal Pancholi, PE as the CEO & President to lead the company’s strategic growth and business development initiatives. As a licensed engineer with over 15 years of business development, government contracting and aerospace industry experience, Kajal brings a wealth of leadership and commercial know-how. She will be responsible for organizational leadership, strategy, growth and general management.
​Kajal comes to Avatar with over 15 years of business development and government contracting experience. Most recently, she worked as the Director of Business Development & Marketing for Millennium Engineering and Integration Company where she managed over $1 billion pipeline, oversaw quality management systems as a Certified ISO 9001 and AS9100 Lead Auditor, managed several successful $50M+ proposals, and won engineering program manager award from the Missile Defense Agency. She is a licensed professional engineer from the state of Maryland; she earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.
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