“Do you think the first human to set foot on Mars has been born yet?” Dave Lavery, Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA, thinks so.

Virginia Tech alumnus, Dave Lavery: LinkedIn

For over a decade, David Lavery led the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Telerobotics Technology Development Program, with responsibility for content and direction of robotics and planetary exploration research efforts. 

Under his leadership the program was transformed into a world-class robotics technology and systems development program impacting NASA flight programs, other government robotics projects, and the entire robotics industry. Among the major products of Lavery's research program were the Sojourner Mars rover, the first robotic rover ever successfully placed on another planet; a free-flying robotic camera used on the Space Shuttle; Dante I and II robotic volcano explorers; and the National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC), to transfer robotic technologies developed by NASA into the commercial robotics industry. As Program Executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA, Mr. Lavery is currently responsible for two Mars Exploration missions (2008 and 2009), the design and development oversight of the next generation of robotic Mars exploration spacecraft, the NASA Astrobiology Field Laboratory, and the Mars Advanced Technology Program. He has published more than 30 technical papers on robotic systems and technology. 

Lavery's current professional commitment and involvement includes the creation of the NASA Robotics Alliance Project (RAP) to inspire K-12 students in robotics, a Fellow of the National User Group Advisory Council and the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, and National Executive Advisory Board member of FIRST Robotics.