On December 26, 2009 the Telemetry Community tragically lost one of our most talented members. James Harris, Board Member of the IFT, 2007 ITC General Chairman, Current Director of NASA Dryden’s Test Systems Directorate, and long time Telemetry Engineering, and Aeronautical Engineering implementer of related systems died in an automobile accident near his home in Southern California.

Jim was born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas where he received his Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Kansas and spent the next 15 years working as an aeronautical and test engineer for Rockwell, Boeing, and Martin Marietta. He later relocated to Southern California to work for Textron and Sparta and finally migrated to the High Desert working at Edwards AFB and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, where he has been for the last 20 years. During his time at Edwards and Dryden, Jim led the development team for F-22 IADS (real time interactive loads/flutter analysis display system), and was the Chief Engineer responsible for the major upgrade to Dryden’s Mission Control Centers.

Jim’s mild mannered demeanor, exceptional talent, and no-nonsense approach to solving difficult problems will be greatly missed by all that knew him.