Senior Project Manager at The Aerospace Corporation
Acknowledged by Forbes Magazine amongst the world’s youngest and most impactful individuals in the field of science, Dr. Kenneth F. Harris II is known for delivering thoughtful and dynamic leadership on programs of critical national and international importance.
Harris is a Senior Project Engineer for The Aerospace Corporation, contributing to both DoD and NASA payload missions. In this role, he is responsible for developing procedures and implementing processes to defend on-orbit satellites from physical and cyber threats.
Prior to this role, Harris served as the Deputy Lead Integration Engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) Integrated Science Instrument Module Electronic Components (ICE). He led a team to successfully integrate the main electronic payload of JWST to the Backplane of the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) Primary Mirror. This was performed in North America’s largest cleanroom, the Space Systems Development and Integration Facility (SSDIF). Harris’s leadership on the JWST program ranks him as one of the youngest African Americans in NASA’s history to lead an integration effort on a multi-billion-dollar satellite mission.
Since joining NASA in 2008 as an intern, Harris has held positions of increasing responsibility, including Rocket Scientist, Senior Mechanical Engineer, and Integration & Testing Lab Manager. Harris’s honors and awards extend beyond his professional service to recognition of his tremendous leadership in the STEM field and international community. He served as the Vice Chair and District 7 Member of the Board of Education in his hometown of Prince George’s County, Maryland, from 2020-2024, through which he championed the importance of early STEM exposure and engagement. He was also internationally recognized in the Project Management Institute Future 50 in 2020 for his incredible leadership at NASA on the local and international level.
In 2023, Harris helped initiate the “PMI Chapter Student Clubs” program, fostering connections between industry professionals and local universities worldwide to cultivate the next generation of Project Managers, particularly from underrepresented groups. This initiative has impacted over 1600 students across Singapore, Kenya, Mumbai, Melbourne, and parts of North America. Harris also served as a host and correspondent for PBS Nova, The Smithsonian, and other science media sources.
Harris graduated with honors from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then completed a Master’s degree in Engineering Management at Johns Hopkins University and a Doctor of Engineering degree at George Washington University.
Harris, his wife, and two children reside in Maryland. When not leading space programs or impacting scholars, Harris enjoys fine cuisine, traveling internationally, and reading science fiction.
