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Release: 01-063

Engineering magazine recognizes NASA's Marshall Space Shuttle Project Manager Alex McCool

Design News, a leading mechanical engineering magazine, has named Alex A. McCool Jr. of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., winner of its annual Special Achievement Award, in recognition of his more than 45 years of work in space propulsion.

The magazine will present the award at a banquet in Chicago on March 6 - along with a $20,000 grant to McCool's alma mater, the College of Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

McCool is also featured in an article, "Rocket Man," in the Feb. 26 issue of Design News, which is aimed at engineers who design products ranging from autos to spacecraft.

McCool began his career in rocket research in 1954 at Redstone Arsenal. Today, he is manager of Marshall's Space Shuttle Projects Office, where, he has overall responsibility for the manufacture, assembly and operation of the primary Shuttle propulsion elements: Main Engines, External Tank, Solid Rocket Boosters and Reusable Solid Rocket Motors.

The Design News' Special Achievement Award is one of 16 awards in the magazine's Excellence in Design program. Its editors choose the top awards -Achievement and Engineering Quality. Readers select Engineer of the Year.

The $20,000 gift to McCool's alma mater is an educational grant from NTN Bearing Corp. of America.

At an age when most people are on the golf course, McCool keeps a rigorous schedule including pre-flight, launch and post-flight meetings for each Shuttle launch. Eight launches are planned for 2001. He has worked on the propulsion systems for all 102 Shuttle missions flown to date. McCool served as director of the Structures and Propulsion Laboratory during the design of the Shuttle's propulsion elements. Then, as director of Marshall's Safety and Mission Assurance Office, he played an important role in the Space Shuttle's redesign and its return to flight in 1988. In January of 1992, he was named manager of the Space Shuttle Projects office.

He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southwestern Louisiana - now known as the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. He holds a master's degree in fluid mechanics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

McCool is the recipient of several awards, including the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive from President Bush in 1991 and NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, its Exceptional Service Medal, and its Outstanding Leadership Medal.

He resides in Huntsville with his wife Genelle.

The Marshall Center is NASA's premier organization for the development of space transportation and propulsion systems.