Christine A. King is presently Deputy Vice President of the Technical Services and Engineering (TS&E) Organization in the Integrated Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) Defense Product Line of Lockheed Martin. TS&E consists of more than 6,000 operations and engineering employees supporting the IS&GS Defense Services Businesses. Previously she served as Director of the Program Solutions and Technology Organization in IS&GS Defense Engineering managing the IRAD organization, the Leadership Development Program, and the Configuration Management Organization. She also provided oversight to the development of the new IS&GS Process Asset Library which successfully supported the recent recognition of IS&GS Defense as a Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Configuration Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 5 Organization. She was Program Director for the successful execution of the Air Force Transformational Satellite Phase B Risk Reduction and System Design contract for the Ground System from 2002 through mid-2006.

Chris has more than 30 years of professional experience, joining Lockheed Martin Management & Data Systems in December 2002 from the LM Global Telecommunications (LMGT) Systems & Technology (S&T) organization. She began her career with COMSAT Laboratories in 1976, and transitioned to the LMGT Systems & Technology organization as director of Network Planning & Management Line of Business when Lockheed Martin acquired COMSAT in 2000. Throughout her career, she has been responsible for the capture and development of communications planning, operations and management systems for both government and commercial customers. Her experience includes functional and program management responsibilities along with business development and software engineering experience. She has experience in managing international, domestic, fixed price and cost plus fee contracts.

Chris has a B.S. in Applied Math and an M.S.E.E from George Washington University.

---

1) How did you get started in the satellite business?

I had the good fortune of joining COMSAT Labs in 1976 as my first job. I was awed by the expertise of the world class scientists and the work performed at the Labs and I quickly decided to pursue my M.S. E.E. in Communications. It was truly a privilege to participate in the industry at that relatively early stage of satellite communications.

2) How have you been involved in changes brought about in or by this business (innovations, technologies, services)?

For many years I was responsible for developing modeling and simulation tools to support satellite communications operations and analysis, as well as communications management systems. As a result, I was able to participate in the proof-of-concept phases for many innovations, particularly in the commercial satellite industry including Intelsat and Inmarsat. Some of the major areas included satellite transmission impairments analysis and frequency planning for new satellites and frequency spectrums, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network management, channel modeling, and satellite constellation life cycle modeling. Not only did I experience the evolution of the communications technologies, but also the rapid advances in computer technologies and software development.

3) What do you think was the greatest event/situation/opportunity you experienced?

Relatively early in my career, my team was responsible for developing the burst scheduling software and earth station terminal time plans for the Intelsat TDMA 120 Mbit/s system that launched in the mid 1980s. The system worked almost flawlessly and it was amazing to know that traffic was successfully transmitted with the software we developed playing such a key role in the technical success of the system.

4) What was the greatest obstacle?

The trade of technology vs. cost is always the greatest obstacle. I worked on initiatives for several satellite systems throughout my career that were technically sound and would have provided great advances in satellite communications but unfortunately due to cost and funding constraints were not able to continue, or were launched with minimum functionality.

5) What do you see happening in the next five years in this industry?

I think there will be continued emphasis on smaller terminals, low cost handsets, software and cognitive radio.

6) What advice do you have for women interested in entering the industry?

I would especially encourage young women to consider joining the space industry. I think women may shy away from engineering because they believe it is less of a social and people-intensive industry than it truly is. This is an industry of innovation where diversity and teamwork are keys to success.

top