- Understanding the Problem
How do we reduce cost while ensuring a successful mission? Taking time to understand the problem, recurring problems in space programs, common elements and root causes
- Finding Solutions: Doing Things Right in Space Programs
Establishing a vision; adapting what Deming taught us; the key to cost-effective, successful space programs, ten principles for Doing Things Right in space programs
- Adopting the Right Attitude
What business are you in? What it really means to have a “commercial mentality”, what “quality” means in the space industry, quality starts with the right attitude
- A Healthy Way of Looking at Verification
Understanding verification, distinguishing between requirements and verification, recognizing customer and contractor responsibilities, the role of standards
- Establishing an Effective Quality System
Whose job is this? Managing the process with a quality system, attending to details, elements of a quality system, key documents and their roles, controlling the configuration, philosophies for product inspection, responding to discrepancies, designing a quality system
- Overview of Aerospace System Development
A process for system development, requirements hierarchy, bottoms-up verification, proactive versus reactive verification, verification logic
- Developing and Specifying Requirements
The flow of requirements, sources, characterizing requirements, allocating, trade studies, contents of a specification, spec language, maintaining traceability, controlling interfaces
- Testing
Qualification, acceptance, and protoflight testing; types of tests and why we do them; deployment tests: test as you fly; designing a test
- Communicating and Documenting Effectively
Communication as part of the engineering process, guidelines for effective communication, writing clearly, making presentations
- Managing Risk
Understanding risk, avoiding risk by design, managing growth areas (e.g., weight), traditional risk management, removing subjectivity
- Responsibly Accepting Risk
Estimating probability of failure, example: negative structural margin of safety, making the launch decision
Tom Sarafin as worked full time in the space industry since 1979, at Martin Marietta and Instar Engineering. He has consulted for DigitalGlobe, AeroAstro, AFRL, and Design_Net Engineering. He has helped the U. S. Air Force Academy design, develop, and test a series of small satellites and has been an advisor to DARPA. He is the editor and principal author of Spacecraft Structures and Mechanisms: From Concept to Launch and is a contributing author to all three editions of Space Mission Analysis and Design. Since 1995, he has taught over 150 short courses to more than 3000 engineers and managers in the space industry.
Poti Doukas worked at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (formerly Martin Marietta) from 1978 to 2006. He served as Engineering Manager for the Phoenix Mars Lander program, Mechanical Engineering Lead for the Genesis mission, Structures and Mechanisms Subsystem Lead for the Stardust program, and Structural Analysis Lead for the Mars Global Surveyor. He’s a contributing author to Space Mission Analysis and Design (1st and 2nd editions) and to Spacecraft Structures and Mechanisms: From Concept to Launch. He joined Instar Engineering in July 2006. 
