Astronaut Biography: Nicholas J. M. Patrick

NAME: Nicholas J. M. Patrick (Ph.D.,P.E.)
NASA Astronaut

PERSONALDATA: Dr. Patrickwas born in 1964 in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, but considersLondon, England and Rye, New York to be his hometowns. He became a U.S. Citizenin 1994. His mother, Gillian Patrick, lives in Connecticut; his father, StewartPatrick, in Pennsylvania. He is married. His recreational interests includeflying, reading, fixing & building things, scuba diving, and Tae Kwon Do.

EDUCATION: Harrow School, London, England,1978-82.

B.A.,Engineering, University of Cambridge, England, 1986.
M.A. Cantab., Engineering, University of Cambridge, England, 1990.
S.M., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990.
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996.

ORGANIZATIONS: Dr Patrick is a member of theAircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and is a registered ProfessionalEngineer (Mechanical).

SPECIALHONORS: Entrancescholarship ('Exhibition') to the University of Cambridge (Trinity College),1983; GE Aircraft Engines Development Program Project Award for contributionsto manufacturing inventory reduction, 1988; JSC Center Director's DiscretionaryAward for contributions to the user-interface of the space shuttle's Cockpit AvionicsUpgrade, 2002.

Dr. Patrickholds three patents in the areas of telerobotics, display design, andintegrated aircraft alerting systems.

EXPERIENCE: While at university, Dr. Patricklearned to fly as a member of the Royal Air Force's Cambridge University AirSquadron, and spent his summers as a civil engineer in New York andConnecticut. After graduating from Cambridge, he moved to Boston,Massachusetts, where he worked as an engineer for the Aircraft Engines Divisionof GE.

He thenattended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was ateaching assistant and then a research assistant in the Human-Machine SystemsLab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research interestsincluded telerobotics, aviation psychology, decision theory, optimization, andeconometrics. While at MIT, he worked as a flight instructor at Hanscom Fieldand as a statistician and programmer for a medical and robotic productscompany.

Uponcompletion of his doctorate, Dr. Patrick joined Boeing's Commercial AirplaneGroup in Seattle, Washington, where he worked in Flight Deck Engineering as asystems and human-factors engineer on many of Boeing's commercial aircraftmodels.

Dr. Patrickhas logged over 1,900 hours as a pilot in more than 20 types of airplane andhelicopter, including over 800 hours as a flight instructor in the Boston,Seattle, and Houston areas.

NASAEXPERIENCE: DrPatrick reported to NASA's JohnsonSpace Center (JSC) for astronauttraining in August 1998. His initial training included scientific and technicalbriefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International SpaceStation systems, and physiological, survival, and classroom training inpreparation for T-38 flight.

Dr. Patrickis currently assigned to the crew of STS-116- a constructionand logistics mission to the International SpaceStation - scheduled for launch in December 2006.

Lastupdated: July 2006

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