NIHERST: Caribbean Icons in STI

Robert Rashford is an aerospace engineer who is recognised internationally for the tools he has developed for use in outerspace missions. As Chief Executive Officer of his company, Genesis Engineering Solutions Inc, he has developed systems for the testing and certification of spaceflight hardware, including the types of equipment which astronauts use on board space shuttles. He participated on the team of scientists that serviced the first Hubble Space Service Mission in 1993.

In 2001, he developed a dry laser cleaning tool for flat panel displays. This tool is able to replace the use of “wet” cleaning methods, which use or produce toxic chemicals. He co-invented with Charles Rivera the world’s first portable “Real-Time 3D NDE System” in 2000. This system can inspect aircraft components and detect flaws. The process is non-destructive and can be applied to pipelines and other composite materials. The system has wide application especially in cases where the structural integrity of materials must be known before being assembled into products; or where non-destructive testing might be needed for materials that are installed and in use.

More than a decade earlier, when working at the Orbital Sciences Corporation, he designed and developed a unique spacecraft support system for the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. This system was reused by NASA to support key research for the development of the Hubble Space Telescope Mission in 1997. Robert Rashford’s current research, however, is in the field of nanotechnology, with the goal of developing very small circuits for use in computers, medical applications and biomedical technologies. He predicts the day will come when a laptop computer can be rolled up and placed in your pocket and can envisage many other innovations that may become commonplace in the future.

Rashford was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 15th June 1957. His family was not well off, and he amused himself by making his own toys from simple materials like cotton reels and cardboard. As a child he was intrigued by the sciences and had a passion for mathematics at school. He attended the Waulgrove High School, and migrated to the United States of America in 1978. His “curious mind” led him to pursue studies in Engineering at Temple University, from which he obtained his B.Sc. degree with honours in 1982. He secured his Master’s degree in Engineering and Management, also with honours, in 1993 from the University of Maryland. He was ranked in the top 5% of graduates.

For his outstanding contributions in science and technology, Robert Rashford received many awards, including four NASA Achievement Awards for work on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Missions in 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2000. He also received an award in 2002 from the Institute of Caribbean Studies for “Excellence in Science & Technology.”

Robert Rashford says that if someone had told him when he was growing up as a young boy in Jamaica that science would allow him to see the world, he would not have believed. Today, he has this advice for youngsters, “The sciences are not as difficult as you think. At first they may require some effort and hard work, but once you understand a concept, you can apply it to any situation in any field - it never changes, it is the universal language.”