For more than 40 years, our employees have shaped the future through groundbreaking innovations. By adhering to our shared core principles of integrity, teamwork, customer satisfaction, and putting our people first, COLSA’s employees have driven change and accomplished the impossible.
Despite global and domestic challenges throughout the year, these team members endured, endeavored, and delivered, earning them the distinction of Employee of the Year.
Engineer of the Year 2020 – Kerry Kennedy
System Engineering Manager Kerry Kennedy is known for his humility despite his numerous, innovative accomplishments. A well-rounded professional, Kerry has a reputation for throwing himself at significant challenges.
While navigating his way through technical problems and engineering roadblocks, Kerry maintains an innovator’s attitude and always demonstrates the utmost respect for his superiors, peers, and workers in the ranks.
Exemplifying the best of COLSA’s core values, Kerry is 2020’s Engineer of the Year.
Employee of the Quarter, Q4 2020 – Fred Whisnant
As Sr. Systems Engineer, Fred Whisnant wears many hats. In his dual roles as Storage Engineer Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Space Launch Systems (SLS) SME at the Marshall Space Flights Center’s Huntsville Operations Support Center, Fred stared down extreme pressure and daily engagements with NASA to innovate a way through unexpected demands.
When lab usage at the Marshall Space Flight and Kennedy Space Centers exceeded storage, Fred quickly designed and improved architecture for the SLS storage systems—averting a potential major program issue that could have negatively impacted the launch of Artemis-I.
For his diligence, expertise, and leadership, Fred Whisnant more than earned Employee of the Quarter.
Scientist of the Year 2020 – Judson Gallien
Support Engineer Judson Gallien is the technical lead for the Defense Intelligence Agency Missile and Space Intelligence Center’s High-Performance Computing System. This year, Judson served as the lead on two high visibility projects.
The first project was the awarded management of five Super Computer Clusters for the Army’s DOD HPCMP at the Army’s Research Laboratory and Engineer Research and Development Center. In the second project, Judson served as the technical lead for MSIC’s largest Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning project to date.
In both projects, Judson’s knowledge and experience defied expectations, earning him Scientist of the Year for 2020.
Program Manager of the Year 2020 – JJ Jackson
JJ Jackson isn’t one to let COVID lockdowns and restrictions get in the way of progress. In 2020, JJ successfully implemented a flawless transition of the new Mobility II contract.
After inheriting the Tanker Directorate and Mobility FMS workforce from a previous support contractor, JJ alerted Government Senior Leadership to large pay disparities within similar labor categories and numerous hard to fill positions. Facing an impossible timetable, JJ was able to repair the pay disparities and then filled or reconsidered previously vacant positions.
Today, the project currently boasts 510 positions on contract, and a vacancy rate of 3.1%—a testament to JJ’s talent and teamwork. For these reasons, among many others, JJ Jackson is COLSA’s Program Manager of the Year.
Congratulations to all of our stand-out recipients of these company accolades. We look forward to furthering innovation and inspiring work ethic embodied by our team in 2021!
