Kenneth Harris II

Kenneth F. Harris II is an African-American aerospace engineer who works with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Harris' work focuses on protecting satellites from cyberthreats, malicious interference in low-Earth orbit, development of propulsion systems, and programmatic management. Over his career, Harris has worked on space security through to next-generation observatories. Harris is also a science communicator.

Early life and education Harris grew up in Prince George's County Maryland. In 2014, Harris received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's College of Engineering after a struggle with course and laboratory work. Harris gives credit to his former engineering professor, Anne Spence, for assisting him. In 2017 he received a master's degree in Engineering Management from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering.

Career

During summer 2007, Harris worked as a janitor, cleaning the school building for incoming students. the Global Precipitation Measurement Satellite contributing to the deployable solar array hinges, and the Joint Polar Satellite System leading the database team. Harris has said his most memorable mission was serving as the deputy lead integration engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module, which houses the computing and electrical resources for the satellite. Harris led the team to integrate the main payload of the satellite that will detect the light from stars billions of light years away. The media has portrayed him as a "Face of NASA" saying: "He has worked on five different satellite missions since he started working at NASA at age 16" and he is "one of the youngest African-Americans to lead integration efforts on the telescope." During the 2020 general election, Harris was elected onto the Board of Education in Prince George's County Maryland.