In this Making Leaders podcast, we hear from Steve Bates, Director of Systems Engineering at Maxar Technologies and the 2022 SSPI Mentor of the Year. In his current role, he is responsible for managing a team of systems engineers and developing the safety roadmap for Maxar. Steve draws on his deep experience in aviation safety from a long and impressive career in the industry to help Maxar ensure that the company meets the demanding safety requirements for a crewed NASA spacecraft as part of the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) for Gateway, a vital part of NASA’s Artemis program. He is also responsible for preparing Maxar engineers to safely execute new missions as part of the company’s business development strategy.

Steve began his career in the U.S. Marine Corps where he worked primarily in electronic engineering. He went on to become an Engineering Manager at Boeing, where he led technical groups responsible for integration and architecture development of large networked systems, including developing and implementing Network Security requirements. While working at Boeing, Steve served as the FAA-approved Safety and Airworthiness Manager with complete responsibility for Flight Deck design and requirements on the 737 and 757. Learn more about Steve.