Indian-American Becomes NASA’s Chief Technologist; Replaces another of Indian Origin

AC Charania, an Indian-American space expert has been appointed as NASA’s new chief technologist. He will serve as principal advisor to NASA’s Administrator Bill Nelson on technology policy and programs.

As per reports, AC Charania took up the charge of the space agency on January 3. He replaces another Indian-American scientist Bhavya Lal, who was the acting chief technologist till AC Charania’s appointment.

In his position, Charania will align NASA’s agencywide technology investments with mission needs across six mission directorates and oversee technology collaboration with other federal agencies, the private sector, and external stakeholders, NASA said in a statement.

He has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as a bachelor’s in economics from Emory University. Before joining NASA, he was the vice president of product strategy at Reliable Robotics, a firm that designs autonomous vehicles for commercial aviation.