DART Mission Leader Ed Reynolds to Keynote IPC High Reliability
July 13, 2023 | IPCEstimated reading time: 1 minute

Ed Reynolds, space exploration sector program manager at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), will present his keynote address, “The DART Mission: Earth Strikes Back,” at IPC’s High Reliability Forum on October 17 in Linthicum (Baltimore), Md.
Leading NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, the first-ever demonstration of asteroid deflection technology, Reynolds and his team from APL, industry, academia and government, made history on September 26, 2022. DART — envisioned, built and managed by APL — changed the orbit of a celestial body for the first time in human history, successfully validating the concept of kinetic impactors as a method to protect Earth and mankind from future asteroid impacts.
During his keynote, Reynolds will discuss the overall DART mission and its development, describing the purpose of the mission and its place in the overall planetary defense strategic plan. He will also cover mission and spacecraft design and new technologies being validated, with special emphasis on the factors affecting reliability, design and implementation decisions that were made during the spacecraft’s development and flight.
Reynolds’ experience with asteroid missions runs deep. He was a systems engineer during the concept stages for NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), the first mission to orbit and land on an asteroid. Reynolds began his APL career in 1985 as a space integration and test engineer working on missions such as the Polar BEAR spacecraft, the Special Purpose Inexpensive Satellite altimeter (SALT) program’s Miniature Radar Altimeter Payload, the Nuclear Electric Propulsion Space Test Program (NEPSTP) spacecraft and the Active Geophysical Rocket Experiment (AGRE).
Reynolds has a master’s degree in project management from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
For more information on IPC High Reliability Forum including agenda, speaker profiles, exhibition and sponsorship information, or to register for event, visit www.ipc.org/event/high-reliability-forum.
Suggested Items
Legislative Update: Is the SEMI Investment Act Inclusive of PCB and Substrates?
05/13/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamIn response to this week's news about new U.S. legislation being put forth by SEMI to support our domestic electronics supply chain—the Strengthening Essential Manufacturing and Industrial (SEMI) Investment Act—IPC’s Richard Capetto, senior director of North American Government Relations, made the following statement.
Delta Builds First IPC-CFX Demonstration Line in Asia-Pacific
05/14/2025 | Chuck Li, IPC North AsiaAs a key standard in the global electronics manufacturing industry, IPC-CFX has been implemented in various regions worldwide, providing the foundation for digital factory solutions. In the Asia-Pacific region, IPC actively promotes this standard, helping enterprises enhance efficiency and competitiveness through digital transformation.
Hunting for Clues: Feng Xue Solving Circuit Board 'Crimes' With AOI Standard
05/08/2025 | Linda Stepanich, IPCWhen residents in sleepy English villages needed a top-tier detective to solve a murder, they called on Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, author Agatha Christie’s fictional detective famous for using his “little grey cells” to solve crimes. In the same way, IPC standards development committees, when creating a standard to detect defects in circuit boards using Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), call on IPC A-Team, Hercule.
IPC Strengthens Global Focus with Promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to Chief Global Officer
05/08/2025 | IPCIPC, the global electronics association, announces the promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to chief global officer. This newly created position reflects the association’s forward-looking strategy and industry needs to strengthen the electronics supply chain.
Navigating Global Manufacturing in an Era of Uncertainty
05/07/2025 | Philip Stoten, ScoopThe EMS industry faces unprecedented challenges as global trade tensions rise and tariff announcements create market uncertainty. In an overview of IPC Europe’s podcast, MADE IN EUROPE, industry experts from GPV and Zollner examine how these developments impact our businesses and customers, and what strategies will prevail in this new landscape.