Corporate Officers

Bernard W. Chau is vice president of the National Systems Group based in Chantilly, Virginia. He assumed this position on April 12, 2008. National Systems Group supports the national security space and intelligence community in the acquisition, launch, operation, and data exploitation of space and airborne intelligence collection systems. Before being promoted to vice president Chau was general manager of the Imagery Programs Division, supporting the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and the National Air and Space Integration Center. He was named general manager in April 2005.

Chau was principal director of the Program Acquisition and Management Directorate, National Systems Group, from 1999 to 2003, providing mission assurance support to the NRO's GeoLITE space system development effort, among other NRO-support assignments. He also had management responsibility in the development of a hyperspectral payload designed and built by The Aerospace Corporation for the Predator Unmanned Airborne Vehicle as part of an initiative by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Before joining The Aerospace Corporation in 1992, Chau spent eight years at TRW's space systems group (now Northrop Grumman) as a systems engineer supporting development of the Milstar payload and multiple NRO programs. In 2004 Chau was a Brookings Congressional Fellow serving as the military legislative assistant in the office of U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction in the 108th Congress, 2nd Session.

Awards and Honors

Chau led a team of five that received The Aerospace Corporation's President's Achievement Award in 2002 for establishing the company as the premier technical support organization for critical technologies associated with a specialized area of national security space. He also was a member of the team that received the 2002 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award for work on the highly successful GeoLITE program. In 2006, under his management, the Imagery Programs Division won the company's Program Recognition Award for its support of the Enhanced Imaging System.

Education and Affiliations

Chau earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hawaii and a master's in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. He also is a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College where he studied intermediate acquisition. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.