Ugandan Kwatsi Alibaruho: In Control as NASA Flight Director

by Ugandan Diaspora Team | June 21, 2011 12:42 pm

Illinois native and Ugandan National, Kwatsi Alibaruho attributes his success as a NASA space shuttle flight director to a strong parental influence on academics, tenacity and hard work, and a life-long fascination with space and exploration.

“I caught the ‘science bug’ very early from watching science fiction programs,and I wanted to learn about real science,” Alibaruho said. Every chance he had, he signed up for extra curricular activities and seminars where he dedicated weekends and summers to further his knowledge of science and engineering.

Alibaruho earned a bachelor’s degree in avionics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Despite his intense interest in science, he never thought of working at NASA until an opportunity arose through the cooperative education program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

As a full-time NASA employee, Alibaruho became certified as a flight controller and accepted increasing levels of responsibility. He was deputy chairman of the Orbital Space Plane Source Evaluation Board’s operations committee, and immediately before his selection as a flight director was group lead for the International Space Station Life Support Systems Group. He already has logged 2,850 hours of experience workingin Mission Control.

Read More about Kwatsi on this Full Feature: http://www.ugandandiaspora.com/nasa%E2%80%99s-first-black-mission-control-flight-director-is-ugandan[1]

Source URL: https://www.ugandandiaspora.com/ugandan-kwatsi-alibaruho-in-control-as-nasa-flight-director/

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