Mr. Michael Generale is a seasoned professional with over thirty years of experience in the Aerospace industry. He was intimately involved in developing and operating aerospace vehicles with the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

He was a Contracting Officer Technical Representative with the United States Air Force on the Small ICBM, Peacekeeper ICBM, and Titan IV space launcher programs.  He oversaw the development, production, and fielding of Air Force launch vehicles.

He spent 28 years with NASA as a Space Shuttle Orbiter Operations Engineer, Space Shuttle and International Space Station Payloads Processing and Operations Engineer, International Space Station Payloads Test Director, Orion Program Test Director, and Orion Recovery Operations Manager. He has extensive experience developing, testing, integrating, and operating spaceflight hardware and related equipment.  He led the team that recovered the first flight Orion space capsule on the EFT-1 mission in 2016.

Mr. Generale’s leadership skills have been honed through extensive experience leading large, multi-organizational, blended government and contractor teams. Under his guidance, these teams have successfully performed test and flight operations of spaceflight and support hardware during dynamic, time-critical, and high-profile mission activities.

Since 2020, Mr. Generale has shared his wealth of knowledge and experience as an adjunct professor at the University of Florida. His Capstone course in Aerospace Design, which he teaches with great passion, equips graduating seniors with the skills necessary to excel in their own careers in the Aerospace industry.  He takes great pride in guiding groups of students, who start as relative strangers, to become high-functioning teams in the course of a few weeks.

education

• 1993 – Master of Science degree in Engineering/Industrial Management from the University of Central Florida
• 1985 – Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida

notable awards

• The Air Force Office of the Inspector General recognized him as a key player and innovator in effectively developing and fielding USAF launch vehicles (1986).

• He earned the NASA Silver Achievement Medal for his leadership in developing the procedures and hardware used in the Orion Underway Recovery Test #1 (2013).