Dr. Andrew S. Keys is a space technology consultant with Five Keys Technologies, LLC, a subcontractor to CGI Federal, where he serves the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program as Senior Technology Advisor. He brings to this position years of experience, federal service, and leadership in commercial, civil, and defense-related technology developments for aerospace systems.
Before entering private consulting, Dr. Keys served as a civilian Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) from 2019 to 2022. His research interests include space-based remote sensing, electro-optics and photonic imaging technologies, optical and laser systems, space system payloads, and radiation hardening of avionics and electronics.
Prior to joining AFIT, Dr. Keys spent more than 28 years at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), where he held a series of technical and leadership positions. In 2018, he served as Chief of the Optics Branch. From 2010 to 2018, he was the Center Chief Technologist, leading the development and implementation of the Center’s space technology portfolio in support of NASA’s exploration and science missions. Earlier in his NASA career, he managed numerous technology development efforts, including x-ray optics for space observatories, radiation-hardened electronics, optical sensors and detectors, instrumented re-entry vehicles, aerocapture technologies, cryogenic fluid management and other space technology maturation projects.
Dr. Keys earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Auburn University in 1988 and 1990, respectively, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from The University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2002. He has authored more than a dozen technical papers and reports, received numerous NASA honors including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and is co-inventor on two U.S. patents.
Email: hq-niac@mail.nasa.gov
