News
Get yourself updated on the latest offerings from us as services and products. Learn about our recent contributions and achievements in the forefront of technology. Read about the significant events in which we are actively involved.
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AMA is Awarded NASA LaRC TEAMS 2 Contract
AMA has been awarded the $327.5 million five-year Technology, Engineering and Aerospace Mission Support 2 (TEAMS 2) contract by NASA Langley Research Center. AMA’s winning team includes Northrop Grumman, Praxis, Science and Technology Corporation and an array of niche small businesses and subject matter experts.
We are absolutely delighted to win the TEAMS 2 contract. We look forward to a seamless phase-in and delivering innovative technical and management solutions in partnership with our long-time customer NASA Langley Research Center. Our growth and excellence over the past years are fully attributed to our dedicated and passionate AMA employees.
NASA's Official News Release
AMA Awarded a Marshall Integrated Program Support Service (MIPSS) Contract - 2013
AMA and its teammates have been awarded the MIPSS Blanket Purchase Agreement by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.
The purpose of the MIPSS procurement is to obtain programmatic support services necessary to support MSFC's current and future programs/projects in each of the following work areas: (1) Program Planning and Control; (2) Cost Estimating and Analysis; (3) Configuration Management and Data Management; (4) Project Coordination and (5) Subject Matter Expert Support.
2013
NASA X Earns Emmy Nomination
Mike Bibbo and Kevin Krigsvold of Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc. (www.ama-inc.com) have earned an Emmy nomination for their work on NASA X. NASA X is a 30 minute television show and podcast created by Mike and Kevin focused on innovative NASA technologies and the NASA scientists, researchers and engineers behind them. Debuting in 2012, the first episode showcased the Environmentally Responsible Aviation program. Three additional NASA X programs have been created featuring the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment 3, the Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Instrument, and several projects within the NASA Game Changing Development Program. NASA X is currently distributed online through the NASA Portal, YouTube and Hulu, public television airing on PBS, and through airline in-flight programming. Current episodes can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/nasax.
This is Mike and Kevin's fourth nomination for a Regional Emmy. They have won two of their three previous nominations for their prior work on Destination Tomorrow and NASA 360. Mike was also nominated for a National Emmy for his work on NASA 360. Announcement of winners for this year’s Emmy nominations takes place on June 15.
2012
NASA Langley Wins 2012 Commercial Invention of the Year
A team of NASA Langley civil servants and contractors received the NASA Langley Wins 2012 Commercial Invention of the Year for the development of a stabilization method for low-temperature catalysts. The technology was developed to address thermal stability issues associated with tin-oxide-based oxidation/reduction catalysts to enable their use in high-temperature applications like automotive catalytic convertors. The team, which included AMA employees, Jacqueline Schryer and Jeff Jordan, performed the work over 10 years ago, which culminated in a series of patents including, Jordan, et al, “Methodology for the Effective Stabilization of Tin-Oxide-Based Oxidation/Reduction Catalysts”, US Patent 7,985,709, which was filed in 2003 and issued July 26, 2011.
This technology was featured in a NASA education and outreach program entitled, “Destination Tomorrow”, which was produced by current AMA Senior Producers, Kevin Krigsvold and Michael Bibbo (http://archive.org/details/destination_tomorrrow_8). The intellectual property was licensed to Airflow Catalyst Systems, Inc. (http://www.airflowcatalyst.com/) of Rochester, NY and has been commercialized for a host of diesel-engine applications for the mining, forestry, locomotive, marine and construction industries.
AMA Team Finishes 6th in the 6th Annual Global Trajectory Optimization Competition (GTOC 6)
Congratulations to Min Qu and Jonathan Chrone for their outstanding efforts. GTOC is a competition aimed at advancing the automation of the trajectory design process.
AMA Develops an iPad App for Rocket City Space Pioneers
AMA recently developed an iPad App for Rocket City Space Pioneers. AMA is proud to be part of "the Huntsville-centric team competing in the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE." Rocket City Space Pioneers News Release
Mars Science Laboratory Successfully Lands
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) successfully landed on August 6, 2012 at 1:32 am ET. Congratulations to all the AMA employees who have provided their expertise in areas such as Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) modeling and simulation, aerodynamics, MEDLI (MSL EDL Instrumentation) to the MSL over the past several years. NASA's Official News Release
NASA Successfully Tests Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield
"The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was launched on July 23, 2012 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The purpose of the IRVE-3 test was to show that a space capsule can use an inflatable outer shell to slow and protect itself as it enters an atmosphere at hypersonic speed during planetary entry and descent, or as it returns to Earth with cargo from the International Space Station." (NASA) IRVE-3 is part of NASA’s Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) program which is a cornerstone to future missions such as the HEART and Mars Human Exploration. Congratulations to all the AMA employees who have contributed to this successful experiment. NASA's Official News Release
2011
NASA Langley Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year
For the second year in a row, AMA, Inc. has been selected the recipient of a 2011 NASA Small Business Industry Award (SBIA) for "Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year" at NASA LaRC. As a Center-level SBIA winner, AMA, Inc. will now be considered as a candidate for the Agency-level SBIA to be announced on Novemeber 3, 2011.
AMA Wins 2011 SBIR Funding
Congratulations to AMA employee's Haijun Shen and Chris Karlgaard, their NASA Phase 1 SBIR proposal for "Parallelization of Sigma Point and Particle Filters" was selected for funding.
AMA Creates a Video of Encouragement for Japan
In conjunction with the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, AMA created a video to encourage the people of Japan who have suffered from the damage of the earthquake on March 11, 2011. The video can be viewed on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency website. Congratulations and thank you to the AMA multimedia team for their great work (Dave Helton, Bob Evangelista, Josh Sams, and Chris Keblitis).
AMA COVE Team Acknowledged by NASA
The AMA CEOS Visualization Environment (COVE) Team was recently acknowledged for its contributions to the program. Brian Killough (CEOS Systems Engineering Office, LaRC) said: "I would like to thank AMA for their outstanding support and innovative ideas during our COVE development. I look forward to our continued working relationship and more great things for COVE." Congratulations to all the AMA team members for their outstanding work: Sanjay Gowda, Brian Williams, Paul Kessler, Shaun Deacon, and Min Qu.
NASA Developing Ways To Transfer Fuel In Space
Space.com (8/6, Moskowitz) reported, "NASA has awarded contracts to four companies with plans to study how to store and transfer fuel in space." NASA said this is a "critical" technology for people to explore space. Analytical Mechanics Associates, Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin won the contracts to "help define a mission concept to demonstrate the cryogenic fluid management technologies, capabilities and infrastructure required for sustainable, affordable human presence in space," according to a NASA statement.
NASA Langley Celebrates 30 Years of Contributions to The Space Shuttle Program
NASA Langley recently celebrated its contributions to The Space Shuttle Program. As part of the celebrations, the center created a video highlighting many of its outstanding contributions to the program. Watch the video...
AMA Studios Work on msnbc.om
Graphics created by the AMA Studios team were included in an article about NASA testing an undersea asteriod. The article was featured in the Cosmic Log on msnbc.com. The images depicting a Space Exploration Vehicle and an astronaut using a network of anchors and tethers were created by the AMA team. Read the entire article...
Crew Exploration Vehicle Parachute Assembly System Independent Reliability Assessment Team
Congratulations to Jeremy Schidner on winning a NESC Group Achievement Award for his work on the Crew Exploration Vehicle Parachute Assembly System Independent Reliability Assessment Team.
AMA Finishes 8th in the 5th Annual Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition
GTOC is a prestigious competition among world-class orbital mechanics and trajectory design organizations to solve a complex planetary trajectory optimization problem. This year's competition was sponsored by Lomonosov Moscow State University Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics.
Congratulations to Min Qu, Jonathan Chrone, Haijun Shen, and Hans Seywald for their outstanding efforts. Of the 38 registered teams, only 15 submitted acceptable solutions.
AeroSpace Day
Meet us at the NASA 6th Annual AeroSpace Day (reception and meetings) at the Virginia General Assembly February 2 and 3, 2011. More Information...
2010
George M. Low Award Winner
NASA presented its highest honor for quality and performance, the George M. Low Award, to Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA), a company known for its commitment to teamwork, safety, customer service, technical and managerial excellence.
The George M.Low award demonstrates NASA's commitment to promote excellence and continual improvement by challenging the agency's contractor community to be a global benchmark of quality management practices. More Information...
NASA selects AMA team to be part of the Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle Studies
AMA will be part of a team that will conduct systems analysis and trade studies for evaluating heavy-lift launch vehicle systems concepts, propulsion technologies, and affordability.See the NASA press release here.
AMA in the News
Congratulations to Sanjay Gowda on being promoted to AMA's Chief Information Officer. AMA also welcomes Jeff Jordan as its Chief Operating Officer. More Information...
AMA Wins SBIR Phase II Funding
Congratulations to AMA employee's Chris Karlgaard and Haijun Shen, their NASA Glenn Phase II SBIR proposal for "Desensitized Filtering and Sensor Fusion Tool Kit" was selected for funding.
AMA Studios Work Featured on WHRO TV's "What Matters"
WHRO TV's "What Matters" recently aired an episode entitled "Focus on the Future". Examples of the animation work done by AMA Studios can be seen on the program. Watch the video...
NASA Pad Abort-1
Congratulations to the numerous AMA employee's that worked on the successful Pad Abort-1 flight test. Pad Abort is a launch abort system designed for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. More Information...
5th Annual Aerospace Day at the Virginia General Assembly
AMA is participating in the 5th Annual Aerospace Day at the Virginia General Assembly, February 3 and 4, 2010, to increase awareness of how vital NASA and the aerospace industry are to the economic well-being and future of the Commonwealth. Aerospace Day Fact Sheet...
2009
AMA Wins STTR Funding
Congratulations to AMA employee Haijun Shen, his Air Force Phase 1 STTR proposal with Ryan P. Russell (Ga. Tech.) for "Fast Trajectory Generation in High-Fidelity Geopotentials Using Finite Elements, Mascons, and Parallelism" was selected for funding.
AMA Wins SBIR Funding
Congratulations to AMA employee's Chris Karlgaard and Haijun Shen, their NASA Glenn Phase 1 SBIR proposal for "Desensitized Filtering and Sensor Fusion Tool Kit" was selected for funding.
AMA Testifies to U.S. Congress
AMA senior personal (Dr. Hans Seywald, Dr. Sanjay Gowda, and Mr. Barry Meredith) testify on Capitol Hill discussing the "Role of Federal Labs in Spurring Innovation". Read Dr. Seywald's statements here. AMA was recognized by Deputy Center Director Cindy Lee in a combined testimony to Congressman Glenn Nye. Video of the testimonies can be seen here.
Ares I-X Completes a Successful Flight Test
On October 28, 2009 as part of the NASA Constellation program, ARES 1-X successfully completed its first flight test from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. AMA employee's contributed to several areas of the project, including; structural design of the "Transitional Structure", "Trajectory Analysis" (simulation verification, range safety deliverables, and day-of-launch simulation), and "Generating Engineering Animations" of ascent and stage separation simulations and recontact analysis. Congratulations to Chris Karlgaard, Aaron Olds, Roger Beck, Brady White, Scott Angster, and Anjie Baker for their outstanding contributions to the project.
Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE)
On August 17, 2009 IRVE performed a successful flight test, demonstrating how spacecraft can use inflatable heat shields to slow and protect themselves when re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Congratulations to AMA employees, RJ Bodkin, Tim Shekoski, Dave Bose, Aaron Olds, Stephen O’ Keefe, John Van Norman, Chris Karlgaard, Roger Beck, and summer intern Brandon Smith for their contributions to the project.
AMA Achieves SEI CMMI Maturity Level 3 Rating
July 2009, AMA achieved Maturity Level 3 (ML3) of the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI v1.2 DEV). The ML3 rating recognizes AMA's ongoing commitment to delivering high quality products on schedule, maintaining customer loyalty, rapidly and effectively responding to customer requirements, as well as remaining in the forefront of engineering, IT, and visualization technologies.
Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) Launches
AMA employee's (Rob Calloway, Erik Tyler, Tim Shekoski, Rob Matarese, Toby Greider, Luke Novak, John Van Norman, Sverrir Rosario, Aaron Horning) helped put MLAS up in the air and the NASA Constellation program on solid ground. MLAS is an alternative method for astronauts to escape their launch vehicle in dangerous situations. "I hope this program in the first of many steps to come in the coming year that will show how NASA with the help of AMA is ready to go back to the moon. We have big shoes to fill from the Apollo days but we are on our way." - Erik Tyler
More information about MLAS can be found in the Virginia Pilot and at NASA Watch.
AMA Featured in Inside Business Magazine (http://www.insidebiz.com)
Read the article...
AMA Achieves ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100:2004 Certification
On May 1st 2009, AMA was successfully audited for ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100:2004 for all of their Engineering, Scientific and Information Technology practices. AMA has integrated these international Process Improvement registrations and Best Practices into their overall Quality Management System. AMA also anticipates attaining CMMI Level 3 Maturity in July of 2009.
NASA Selects Hampton Firms for Engineering Support
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected Analytical Services & Materials Inc., and Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc., both of Hampton, Va., to provide analysis, systems engineering and research support for NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton. The fixed price, multiple award blanket purchase agreements have an aggregate maximum value of $100 million during a period of five years. The Hampton firms will provide scientific, engineering, and design and development activities in aerodynamics, mechanical, structural, thermal, propulsion, fluid systems, electrical and electronics, avionics and controls, instrumentation and advanced sensor, and manufacturing technology. The work will be performed at Langley and at contractor locations.
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