ABOUT TAKEOFF

Picture of Joan Horvath

JOAN HORVATH

Joan Horvath founded Takeoff in October 1999. Before starting Takeoff, she had a 16 year career as a "rocket scientist" at JPL, the NASA center for the exploration of the solar system. She has a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and an MS in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering from UCLA. At JPL she calculated how fluids would flow in space and developed ideas for advanced computers. She played key roles on various spacecraft, particularly with the Magellan spacecraft to Venus and the TOPEX/Poseidon earth orbiting spacecraft.  

She created a program at JPL which fostered relationships between JPL and toy companies, merchandisers, and science fiction producers. This program grew to include many companies, and generated significant print and television exposure for Mattel's first-of-its-kind relationship to make toy Mars Rovers. 

She is the author of many technical papers as well as an  article in the April 2004 issue of  Scientific American,  "Blastoffs on a Budget." She is the author of the 2008 release "What Scientists Actually Do"  and is a coauthor of  the coffeetable book "Saturn: A New View". She has taught strategy,  technology planning, mathematics and critical thinking at the Southern California campus of the University of Phoenix. She has also taught in the Graduate Industrial Design program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.


Horvath a featured reviewer for Reviews.com

 

 

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