Rodney Rocha
Aerospace Engineer
NASA
Advocating for safety and risk mitigation in the face of resistance.
Rodney Rocha, NASA structures chief engineer during Space Shuttle Columbia’s last and fatal mission and the accident investigation, shares his firsthand experience, hard-learned contributing factors, and recommendations on navigating the challenges of voicing safety-related concerns.
Rocha draws on his journey to explore the complex human dynamics of advocating for safety and risk mitigation in the face of management resistance, complacency, or organizational inaction.
Topics include the importance of building alliances to validate, give credibility to, and amplify safety concerns. He will recommend ways to maintain psychological safety, strength, and self-care. Rocha will also discuss strategies for respecting organizational reporting paths, but also for recognizing when escalation or alternative paths may be necessary, and for effectively communicating the consequences of inaction by an organization and the potential consequential damage to the employee work force.
Attendees will gain actionable tools and inspiration to champion safety, even under adverse conditions, while protecting their own well-being and integrity. This session offers a practical learning experience for anyone committed to advancing safety in their organizations.
Mr. Rocha was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering. He obtained his master’s degree in Space Science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
He was hired by NASA Johnson Space Center in July 1974 as an engineering intern in the Structural Engineering Division, where he has been ever since. From 2014 to 2015 Mr. Rocha was a part-time lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University. Mr. Rocha’s spouse is Robyn Morgan.
Mr. Rocha’s engineering expertise is in the area of Newtonian dynamics, structural dynamics, and structural vibrations. He has served in diverse positions in his long NASA career, including Space Shuttle Chief Engineer within the JSC Structural Engineering Division. Mr. Rocha supported the ground test planning and pre-flight analyses of the Artemis-1 and -2 flight vehicle.
He supports defining astronaut-induced loads onto the Human Landing System and impact dynamics requirements and testing for the new lunar exploration space suits. These are NASA’s projects enabling NASA’s return of the US human exploration of the Moon.
For decades Mr. Rocha has volunteered to serving NASA’s education outreach programs. He has spoken many times to the public, school and university students, early-career NASA engineering and contractor interns, NASA project management training classes, other US government agencies. He makes flight safety recommendations relevant to NASA’s current needs for maintaining technical vigilance, and open communication of engineering issues and concerns to NASA management in order to assure flight safety.