Bhanu Sood

Dr. Bhanu Sood is the Chief Technologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he provides strategic vision and leadership for technology development across a $4.7B portfolio. He architects NASA Goddard’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program, aligning investments with mission priorities and national interests to ensure technological superiority for future space exploration. Dr. Sood drives innovation in transformative domains such as quantum sciences, artificial intelligence, autonomy, optical communications, and edge computing—advancing capabilities for flagship observatories, Moon-to-Mars missions, and the Artemis program. His role focuses on building strategic partnerships with industry, academia, and government to accelerate technology infusion, commercialization, and U.S. competitiveness in emerging sectors.

Previously, Dr. Sood served in key leadership roles at NASA, including Division Chief Engineer and Agency Program Manager for Training, and led risk assessment for microelectronics across missions such as JWST, Roman Space Telescope, and numerous Earth science and planetary missions. Before NASA, he directed the Laboratory for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Maryland, strengthening U.S. semiconductor leadership and global electronics reliability, and earlier developed advanced microelectronics manufacturing processes at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Dr. Sood holds six patents, is an IPC Fellow and IEEE Senior Member, and has received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Robert H. Goddard Award, and other honors. He earned a doctorate in electronics reliability, master’s degrees in metallurgy and materials science, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.