May 26, 2026 • 38 mins
Operating a massive tech hub in the middle of the world's most aggressive innovation environment leaves zero margin for error. When you are responsible for keeping a 2,000 acre campus running smoothly to support human spaceflight, theory takes a backseat to real world execution. In this episode, host Paul Gatling sits down with Amir Deylami, the Chief Operating Officer of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, to unpack what it takes to manage billions in critical government assets while living thousands of miles away in Northwest Arkansas.
We sit down to discuss the realities of coordinating a massive ecosystem across federal agencies, private enterprise, and higher education. Amir Deylami shares his professional trajectory from a childhood running cash registers in Alabama to raising his hand for high stakes assignments that caught the attention of NASA headquarters. We get into the actual logistics of driving rapid organizational change, the distinct regional similarities between Silicon Valley tech giants and corporate mainstays like Walmart and JB Hunt, and his recent experience mentoring the next generation of business students as an executive in residence at the University of Central Arkansas. Amir highlights a core philosophy that has guided his entire tenure: you must architect from the right by identifying your exact desired outcome before mapping out the players needed to get you there.
The real differentiating factor for successful leaders is the grueling, slow work of building interpersonal trust. Amir candidly breaks down the mental toll and logistical grind of working around the clock across multiple time zones, balancing family life in a new community, and overcoming the institutional inertia often associated with government entities. Viewers will walk away with a practical framework for early career planning, an understanding of why agility and resilience matter more than static skills in the age of artificial intelligence, and a firsthand account of the preparation behind the historic Artemis missions.
If you care about organizational leadership, technological innovation ecosystems, and practical career development, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Please make sure to subscribe to the channel and share this episode with someone looking to scale their management capabilities. What is the most critical process or outcome in your own organization that you need to start architecting from the right today?
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andwe are bringing the University
of Central Arkansas to NorthwestArkansas.
Each episode, we will talk withleaders, alumni, and innovators
driving this region forward.
People who are shapingindustries and defining what is
next for our state.
(00:22):
Let's get started.
All right, we are back withanother edition of Central to
NWA, UCA podcast.
Paul Gatling here with you.
And joining me in the studiotoday in Rogers is a senior
executive with NASA.
He helps oversee billions inassets and operations at one of
their premier research centers.
(00:42):
He works around aerospace andartificial intelligence and
advanced systems around some ofthe smartest people in the
world.
And he lives right here inNorthwest Arkansas and still
kind of blows my mind when I saythat.
So Amir Delamy, he's the chiefoperating officer of NASA's Ames
Research Center in SiliconValley.
He's here with us today.
Amir, great to see you, man.
Hey, Paul, great to see you.
(01:03):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Yeah, really looking forward tothis.
And here's something else that'sgonna blow your mind if you're
watching or listening with ustoday.
This past semester, Amir becameum, you know, part of the
University of Central Arkansasfamily.
He was the uh executive inresidence at our college of
business, uh, had three campusvisits during the semester, lots
of terrific interactions withour students and faculty.
(01:26):
And honestly, from everythingI've heard from you know Dean
Tim Bisping and PresidentHouston Davis uh and others, um,
they absolutely loved it.
And I know talking with you, youhad the same reaction too.
You loved being down there.
Yeah, I just uh I love theenergy out there and uh looking
forward to hopefully more in thefuture too.
Well, I can tell you that thatwe are too.
We want that relationship tocontinue uh in some form uh with
(01:48):
you and UCA.
So uh, and I want people to knowalso, you know, how that all
came about.
And we'll get into some of theUCBA UCA specifics later, but
um, you know, Amir and I met uhthrough LinkedIn, right?
You remember this story?
I remember it clearly.
Yeah.
I mean, Amir sends me a message,and you know, hey, let's get I'd
like to meet you.
I read your stuff, that's great,and I'd like to meet you.
(02:09):
And of course, me, I see COO ofNASA, Rogers, Arkansas, and I
was like, yeah, I'd like to meetthis guy too.
I've got a few questions.
And so um, you know, fastforward several months, and you
know, you spent a semester atUCA, and uh, you brought your
wife uh Bliss to our big alumnievent in Bentonville at the
momentary a few weeks ago.
(02:29):
So man, you're in the bearfamily.
Yeah, I'm feeling it.
I'm feeling it.
I love the logo, and uh, I'vegot quite a few pins and some
swag build up.
So I appreciate it.
Well, we appreciate you.
And so um, yeah, let's just, youknow, first things first, when
people hear NASA executive,C-suite executive at NASA, you
know, living in in NorthwestArkansas.
What's their reaction usually?
(02:50):
Do your neighbors know what youdo?
Uh uh a couple of them do, and alot of them don't, but uh, yeah,
I fly a little bit under theradar.
But uh I think it's uh I I Ithink for for me it's just been
an awesome opportunity.
17 years in NASA, been atMarshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, I've been atWashington, D.C.
at their headquarters office,and last six years at NASA Ames
(03:12):
Research Center on the WestCoast.
And uh, you know, uh originallyplanned to move out there,
pandemic happened, schoolshutting down, kids.
We got two little ones, uh,they're eight and five now.
But uh a lot of my wife'sfamily, central Arkansas, been
area.
And so uh around that timeframe, uh work was flexible to
(03:33):
allow me to uh uh uh relocate toArkansas and uh go back and
forth to California.
And so that's worked, worked outwell.
There's a lot of long nights,long weekends, um uh kind of
working around the clock, uh,getting the mission done.
But at the end of the day, uhthe arrangement works well and
uh excited about it and uhexcited about this community too
(03:55):
and just NWA and just what it'sspurring and the and the
economics and the uh and and thepeople.
Um so looking forward to uh totalking more about this.
You know, it's funny when I metyour wife uh Bliss and we talked
about, and you told me she wasfrom Benton, you know, I'm from
Bryant, you know, Celine Countyuh connection there, and and uh
uh we quickly discovered, youknow, growing up, I read in the
(04:16):
paper, you know, there was acivic official in Benton uh
named Freddie Burton, who wasand that that's her grandfather
or somebody that's in herfamily.
I'm like, golly, this Arkansasis such a two degrees of
separation from everybody,really.
Yeah, it is a small small world.
Freddie is known as Pappy to uhto the granddaughters, he's very
(04:37):
loved by all of us, but uh he'suh he's just an amazing
individual, not just in thecommunity and the network and
the people that he knows, but hespent a lot of time up here too
because he he loves those girls.
Freddie and Brenda, they spent alot of time up here.
So I'd say it's their secondhome.
Hopefully their first someday.
Yeah.
What does, you know, kind of inin layman's terms, just explain
(05:00):
your job at NASA.
What does a day look like foryou as the as uh overseeing uh,
you know, the the technologycenter in Silicon Valley?
Yeah, I I think NASA Ames is avery unique uh uh campus.
I get to I get to oversee andsupport uh the operations of a
2,000-acre campus uh nestled inthe middle of Silicon Valley.
Uh and you know, we've got$8billion of assets, it's just a
(05:23):
billion dollars uh about a year.
But we've got incrediblepartnerships across industry,
academia, uh, and othergovernment players, including
the Department of War.
And so just really overseeingthe operation, all of our
facilities that we've got, over200 facilities, 5 million square
feet, uh, and ensuringoperations to meet the NASA
mission to get our astronauts tomoon, Mars, and beyond and bring
(05:47):
them back home safely is reallyour bread and butter uh from a
from a campus standpoint.
But I'm truly blessed to workwith some uh not only an
exceptional leadership team thatwe've got out there, but
exceptional world-classresearchers.
And so um, really cool stuff,very blessed.
But uh, but I'm excited.
I'm I'm very excited about themission.
Yeah, you had a successful uhmission not too long ago, too,
(06:08):
right?
I mean, that was a big day, bigweek.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, um, we we were excited aboutnot only Artemis One, Artemis
One was uh basically sending upa cap capsule, doing a figure
eight around the moon andbringing uh the capsule back,
non-man, no, no uh astronauts init.
Artemis two was where thepressure was really on, uh,
(06:29):
especially looking at that heatshield and uh and doing that
similar mission, figure eightwith four astronauts, four lives
on the line, and bringing themhome safely.
Um, there were a lot of nervesin it.
Our team is core and crux to towhat we do with that mission,
but uh it was beautiful to seeum uh the the parachutes open
up, the heat shield lookbeautiful, and uh those
(06:51):
astronauts coming home.
And uh it's incredible to seethe impact not only that they've
had across the nation, butacross the entire world.
Right.
How much does your job include,you know, because you're not um,
you know, when people think ofASA NASA, they think of, you
know, the rockets and theastronauts, right?
But you're you're you're not theSTEM guy, right?
You're so how much does your jobrequire um, you know, uh
(07:14):
coordination between governmentand academia and higher
education, private institution,all of that seems like it's a
that's a part of your job.
Oh, yeah.
It's an entire ecosystem, it'snot just one piece.
Uh I think especially over theselast several years, we're not
gonna be able to do the boldmissions of the nation trying to
do it on our own.
(07:34):
It's really gonna take uh thegovernment, it's gonna take uh
key industry players, it's gonnatake new startups, it's gonna
take academia to help supportthat.
And so it's the entireecosystem.
And I love how, especially theselast few years, I've seen that
ecosystem get closer andstronger.
And with a national space policythat's giving even stronger
direction on what we're going toachieve.
(07:56):
Um, I see the broader communitygetting even closer behind
behind those bold goals,correct?
Well, let's figure out then howAmir Delami gets to NASA.
How does anybody get to NASA?
You know, where did you wheredid you grow up?
What kind of kid were you?
Yeah.
Born and raised in Huntsville,Alabama, uh, family immigrated
here 40, 50 years ago.
(08:17):
Uh, and uh parents landed in inHuntsville.
So I grew up there.
Uh parent, my dad uh had amechanical engineering degree,
but ended up owning businessesuh in Huntsville.
And so I really I grew up at ayoung age, at the age of five, I
was running cash registers andgas stations and convenience
stores.
Yeah.
Uh and at the time I was like,what the heck?
(08:39):
Like, you know, why am I notgonna go outside and play with
my friends?
And why am I not gonna go to theskating rink and other things
that that kids at that agetypically do?
But honestly, it was it was itwas the best, it was the best
experience ever.
Not only did I have the bestmentor ever in my dad, um, but
also uh I got experiences atthat young age that I've used
(08:59):
throughout my entire life andcareer.
And so fast forward, I went tothe University of Alabama,
Huntsville, played collegesoccer there, D2, uh, and also
was the vice president offinance with their student
government association, another,another great experience.
Um, but I threw my name in thehat for uh a couple uh
internships.
And uh Huntsville has gotRedstone Arsenal with the Army
(09:19):
and NASA and others.
And uh that didn't go, you know,I didn't I didn't get a response
back from the Army.
Okay, well, and then I sawsomething come in for NASA and I
was like, I know how this rodeogoes.
And they say, we're reviewingyour resume.
I've been down this rodeo, I'llnever hear back.
And then I got a response for aninterview, and then one thing
led to another, and I became anintern at NASA Marshall Space
(09:41):
Flight Center, the actualorganization that builds the big
rockets.
And so uh awesome foundation,but that was my that was my foot
in the door into NASA as anorganization.
Right, but you didn't dream oflike, and like you said, the
Marshall Center, you know,several thousand people working
for NASA and Huntsville is a youknow a NASA town, but that
wasn't necessarily likesomething you thought about as a
kid or dreamed about as a kid.
(10:02):
My mind was not expanded to atthat at that time to be able to
even think about that.
I'd grown up in, you know, likeI said, convenience stores and
running businesses by the age ofyou know 12 or 13.
My parents are handing me overthe keys, and I'm running full
operations of these, these, uh,these, these, these, you know,
organizations and businesses andthe people around it.
(10:23):
So I I I had that um early on,but I never had expanded my mind
to ever think I'd be working uhat NASA.
I mean, that is such an uhamazing experience.
And so yeah, that wasn't thatwasn't part of the cards.
Yeah.
So that though the that youngerAmir years, teen years, that was
sounds like it was veryinfluential in your um that
(10:44):
drawing you towards that systemsand organization and leadership
career.
Yeah, yeah.
Uh just just watching my dad uhand how he ran an organization.
Not only did he run theorganization, he was an
influential individual in thecommunity.
That was what was so cool aboutit.
His name was Ali Delamy.
Um, and everyone would come inthat store, Mr.
(11:05):
Ali, Mr.
Ali, Mr.
Ali.
He was really an individual thatpeople loved in that area.
And so, you know, it's one thingto think, ah, you're just
running a little small business.
But it was crazy how that areaat the time was a little bit
rough too.
But he helped clean up thatarea.
And that, you know, Governor'sDrive back then was a place you
don't want to be be at, youknow, past five or six p.m.
(11:28):
And then now you drive downGovernor's Drive and it is a
totally different experience.
And so um, I I, you know, everytime I drive by that store, the
pantry, the pantry food store,um, I think about my dad and and
the impact that he had there,not only on that community, but
on me as a as a growing leaderuh uh you know down the road.
So this is probably a uh thisquestion is it would maybe hard
(11:50):
for you to crystallize, maybenot, but you get the you do get
the initial response from NASAto get your foot in the door and
you begin.
What was uh, and that was apretty big break, I guess.
What was the biggest break ofyour career?
I mean, you said 17 years withNASA.
Yeah.
How have you been upwardlymobile in such an organization?
Oh gosh.
Uh number one, NASA's got anincredible leadership uh that uh
(12:13):
invests in their nextgeneration, and I'm a product of
that.
Um, but really I think, I thinkthe the curiosity and the grind
um in that environment was whatreally helped me out early in my
career.
I really wanted to delve myselfinto anything and everything I
could.
I wanted to learn, I wanted tobe a sponge.
There were so many crediblesupervisors, mentors, leaders
(12:34):
around.
And so I really threw myself uhinto it all.
And I remember a new account.
I was in the I was on thebusiness side, so I was working
in the CFO shop, and uh a newaccount called the Office of the
Chief Technologists had openedup.
And every, you know, all thesenior, uh, senior budget
analysts, they had key accountsthat they oversaw for the center
(12:55):
uh in support of the agency.
And I remember my team leadcoming in and saying, hey,
there's something new calledOCT, Office of Chief
Technologist.
Who wants to who wants to runthis?
My hand shot up so high.
And I raised my hand and I said,I want it to be me.
And everyone's just lookingaround like, why?
Like that is, you know, it'slike a this thing won't even
(13:15):
exist in a couple of years.
Why would you even whatever, lethim here do it?
And I delved myself into it.
I learned every I I I knew it, Iknew it uh kind of like the back
of my hand.
And uh, and I rememberheadquarters being in town that
came for a little uh summit or aretreat or a workshop.
And I remember the the guy kindof presenting, and I was just so
(13:36):
curious and I had so manyquestions.
And I remember as he'spresenting, I'm I'm kind of sir,
you know, and firing off kind ofquestions.
And then at the first break,about 30, 40 minutes later, you
know, and I felt like there wasa high level of engagement.
But the break, he says, You outhere.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I talkedway too much.
He's gonna say, Look, you budgetweenie.
(13:57):
What you know, I'm here to talkabout the programs and projects.
Like, what are you doing askingme all these questions?
I thought, you know, so I'mgoing to him and I'm like, Yes,
sir.
And he says, I love it.
How do I get you toheadquarters?
And I just, you know, kind ofshot back, headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
I've lived in Alabama all mylife.
And so I think that was thefirst shot.
And that really opened thedoors.
(14:18):
That really got me exposure touh intense and high uh high
tempo kind of situations, buthigh stakes situations as well.
When you're working with uh uhuh Congress, when you're being
asked to go present at the WhiteHouse and you're uh very early
in your career, you know, uh andvery early in uh in age as well,
(14:41):
that gets you um that gets youprepared for a lot of things
later, later in your career.
And so I think that was thefirst real break.
Obviously, there was a lot ofother things before that, but
that was the first one where Icould tell that's made a
difference in my careertrajectory.
So when the stakes are reallyhigh like that, and you said,
and you've got, you know, allthe smartest people in the room
(15:04):
from all over the world, andthey're not all gonna agree all
the time.
Um, what have you learned aboutleadership in in instances like
that?
Yeah, no, I I deal with it everyday, multiple times a day.
And it feels it's kind of, youknow, I've got maybe five or six
tiger teams all going at once.
So I'm popping in and uh and youknow, coaching and
(15:25):
quarterbacking where it'snecessary.
But um, we've got incredibletalent.
Uh, we've got experiencedleaders and professionals, we've
got uh talented, smart.
Again, some of these people areworld class.
And so I love the differentperspectives.
I've never walked in a roomthinking that I'm the smartest
person in the room.
(15:46):
If that's the case, I'm in thewrong room.
And so I love surrounding myselfwith these people and really
figuring out all kinds of keyperspectives from the scale of
what's working well, what's not,and what do we need to change?
And working and coalescingthings kind of as a team, uh,
especially to meet not only thebold goals, but the accelerated
(16:06):
timelines.
A lot of the things that we'redoing today, you know, you may
have spanned over like a two orthree year period in the past.
Now it's a rip the band-aid offapproach, I think, in a great
way to where we're drivingchange and transformation that
may have taken three years andlike three to six months.
Yeah.
And so for a large organization,I think that's difficult, but I
(16:29):
think it's also uh uh uh puttingus in a better position in the
long term and really helping usget to a more effective and a
more efficient organization toagain meet and align with the
bull goals that the nation'strying to reach.
So something you've mentioned acouple of times, and I know it's
important to use leadership.
And you know, it's you overseeincredibly complex complex
systems, but at the end of theday, leadership is about people,
(16:51):
right?
So NASA is is obviously, and youmentioned it, elite level
talent.
Um, you know, deep bench, asthey say.
I mean, just across the board.
So what separates those people?
What separates the best leadersin rooms like that?
I mean, they're all smart andgood at what they do, but what's
the separating factor?
A separating factor is not supercomplex.
(17:13):
The separating factor is beinggood with people, being able to
uh really, I think, I think, youknow, it it starts with the
basics.
The basics are really you've gotto have trust with people.
To have trust with the people,you've got to have relationships
and build that and really carefor the actual individual that
you're working with.
And so that does take time.
(17:35):
But um, but I think that is thatthat's the key thing is is
really having a relationshipwith those people so you can
actually get to the crux of keyissues and work through key
issues.
There is no time for, you know,second level, third level like
type of meetings to be able to,you know, talk about things and
(17:55):
and whatever it is.
It's like sometimes you justneed to hash it out then and
there and having a trust,trusted environment to be able
to do that.
I think people really uhappreciate the lay it out on the
line, but do it in a respectfulfashion.
Let's figure out what the risksare, what the concerns are, what
the opportunities are, what themitigations are, and let's find
a way forward.
Sure.
(18:16):
All right.
You, as we said, you spend a lotof time in Silicon Valley and
the innovation culture there.
Then you come home uh toNorthwest Arkansas.
What similarities do you see uhin those regions?
I think I've been extremelyimpressed.
I've only been in NWA for twoyears, um, a little bit less
than that.
I've been extremely impressed bythe innovation environment here
in NWA.
(18:36):
Um, it is not something thatpeople think about.
Obviously, we've got aremarkable uh anchor in in
Walmart and what they are doing,not just for this community, not
just for the nation, for theentire world.
It's extremely impressive, thespeed and scale that they move
out.
And a lot of times you thinkthey're a retail organization.
I would beg to differ.
(18:57):
They are a technology and aninnovation that works in retail,
that that and that works inretail and uh is extremely wise
in how they use uh their theirscale in strategic ways.
And so I I I love that.
Um, I I think a lot of peopledon't know um in the Silicon
Valley arena about what's goingon at the speed and scale it's
(19:18):
going on.
But I I see a lot ofsimilarities there um uh with
you know Silicon Valley.
You know, and that's how wewe've been describing for a few
years too, even back to mybusiness journal days.
We would JB Hunt is not alogistics and transportation
company, they're a technologycompany that works in
transportation.
Same thing with Walmart.
(19:39):
So you you kind of alluded to itthere.
What is underrated aboutNorthwest Arkansas uh on a
national perspective?
I mean you travel a lot indifferent areas of the country.
Yeah, I think uh, you know, someof the from the technology
standpoint, uh I've talkedabout, but the from the living
standpoint, this is such atremendous place to be.
I mean, you know, we're here um,you know, just just uh just
(20:02):
right next door.
And um I think about theschools, I think about our two
daughters, eight and five.
They've got a tremendouseducation.
I think about the community,what we've got access to, uh,
the people, the community thatwe've got access to, uh is
top-notch from the three or fourdifferent places that uh I've
lived.
(20:22):
And then you think about themuseums, the food, the these are
not just like little, you know,regional hubs that you see.
These are national scale.
I mean, you think about likeCrystal Bridges and some of the
key uh uh players in town.
These are national scale, globalscale entities who happen to be
in the NWA and we get thebenefit of them.
(20:44):
Yeah.
Do you do you own a mountainbike?
You ride mountain bike?
Oh my gosh.
I do I used to, and uh I keepnudging the wife a little bit
and she's nudging me.
So I maybe, maybe in the future,but uh not not yet.
Hopefully soon to come.
Let's talk about um, you know,elite talent and innovation uh
long term.
Do you think regions likeNorthwest Arkansas uh can
(21:06):
compete for elite talent?
I think they have.
I think they have.
You think about uh you thinkabout some of these present
company included.
Uh no, no, no.
You think about I'm justthinking about, you know, you
were an incredible connector.
And um, and I think when Ioriginally reached out to you, I
said, hey man, I love yourcontent.
(21:27):
You're, you know, especially asa new person, you're helping me
learn so much about this arena.
Um, and and that was that was athat was an amazing time for
coffee.
But since then, you're anincredible networker.
I uh you got to give yourselfkudos.
And uh you've connected me withum, you know, Sharmila from uh
from from Awesome from AliceWalton uh School of Medicine.
(21:50):
I'm looking at, you know, that'sone example of incredible talent
in NWA that would not typicallyuh uh you know happen in a you
know in a mid sized kind ofCity, but I see that left and
right.
Um, another uh kind of groupthat you connected me with was
like some key investors.
I ended up going to an event.
Um, and I was just blown away.
(22:12):
The place was just fully packed.
I mean, the full place was fullypacked of folks wanting to
invest in this area.
And so I think the talentattraction, and again, we're not
even talking about the uh, youknow, the Walmarts and the you
know, the other key players intown, but um, y'all have a great
way, we have a great way ofattracting key and top talent in
(22:34):
this arena.
Yeah, I think there's uh from anational perspective, I think
there's still curiosity aboutNorthwest Arkansas when you
there's more and more writtenand said and and uh that that
gets away from the space.
And um, Dr.
Makija, a former podcast aswell, too.
So you're joined on the rosterwith her.
So if there's anything missingthen, a true innovation
ecosystem, um, you know, whatdoes a region need that maybe
(22:57):
there is room for growth here?
What what is maybe uh a missingingredient, missing puzzle
piece?
That's a great question.
Um, I I have thought a littlebit because a lot of times NWA
gets comp, you know, hey, thisplace could be the next Austin
down the road.
Right.
And uh I've I've really donesome uh you know, I haven't done
(23:19):
as much as I want, but somemental models of like what does
it take to get to that uh tothat stage.
I do think um uh, you know,retail, logistics, technology,
yeah, a lot of that is is uhunder the belt.
But I think there could be alittle bit more diversity of the
types of industries in this areato to to build off of the
(23:42):
success of the key anchors thatwe've already got.
So I don't know exactly whatthat is.
Yeah, I mean maybe moreaerospace, you know.
Uh that's right.
Need to the aerospace mightmigrate from South Arkansas to
Northwest Arkansas.
That's right.
No, I mean it, it's all thosethings.
It's it's um it's the people,like you always the people, it's
the culture, it's the education,it's the uh a certain appetite
(24:04):
for risk taking, right?
I mean, in in whatever theindustries are.
So um, yeah, always room to touh complement those things and
add on to those things.
Um now the UCA connection.
You know, you and I, you know,we meet for coffee, we get
connected, and um, you know, I Idon't think at the time either
of us thought that severalmonths later you'd be going down
to Conway three times a semesterand standing in front of
(24:25):
students and faculty and youknow, a room full, an auditorium
full.
Um, so you go down there.
What what stood out about UCAand your experience?
You know, what surprised youabout our students?
Just pull pulling up to Conway,uh, I was very surprised.
You know, it's a it's abeautiful little town, but is it
it's a beautiful campus?
(24:46):
It is a beautiful campus.
And I I tell Dean uh uh Bisbangthat all the time.
I'm like, man, y'all, y'all havea beautiful campus.
But beyond that, there's somebeautiful people straight from
the heart.
I and that's what I really enjoyuh about it.
You know, by the time I got tomy second and third one, you see
some familiar faces, you see thestudent ambassadors and the
(25:07):
leaders who are really uhinvesting in that university.
And uh and through rounds ofconversations, I I really grew
close to those uh individualsand appreciated what they were
doing for their university.
I saw myself in them.
You know, when I was doingwithin the Student Government
Association at UAH 20 years ago,I saw them giving back and
(25:30):
investing and starting to buildthemselves as future leaders.
And um, so that was that wassuch a cool experience.
I remember you making thatpoint.
I I went down for your first uhvisit uh earlier this year, and
I think some of those kids, youknow, I was standing off, you
know, watching, you know, justkind of their reaction, which
and nobody was on their phones,by the way.
(25:51):
And it was was really engaged.
And then when you made thatcomment, like, wait a minute,
this guy works for NASA.
How does he see himself and me?
And I really think that kind ofperked them up a little bit
because yeah, you you have umyou have a path just like any,
you know, there were 20-year-oldkids just like you were.
I think that resonated.
And a lot of things, you know,resonated.
Um, so uh, you know, what otherconversations do you remember?
(26:13):
What what conversations do youremember most with maybe some of
the kids before or after youryour visits there?
Or yeah, I it was I've told youthis before, but just I it was
just it was different.
Uh, you know, and there'smultiple conversations that
happen, but looking in theireyes, even as I was presenting
to, you know, a room full, Icould tell that there was there
(26:37):
was hunger.
I could tell that there was uhdesire to really advance their
situations and their familysituations for generations to
come.
And uh and and really after thecon after, you know, even being
done with the session and theline of students that would kind
of join, that was the coolestthing, just hearing every single
(26:59):
one of their stories.
It could span from anythingfrom, you know, hey, I
appreciate that.
I do want to get more involvedto the within the university, or
hey, I'm about to graduate, I'mnot sure what I need to do.
Hey, I've been thinking aboutthis.
What are some otheropportunities that are open down
the road?
And so I I think that was thatwas cool.
I think from a from a you know,even from a personal standpoint,
(27:22):
I've told you so many peoplehave invested in me.
And this is just a very, very,very small way to help invest in
each one of those students.
And so um appreciate theconnections you made and the
opportunity the university gaveme to be a small part of that.
I want to I want to ask you thatquestion.
Let's say let's say I'm about tograduate, or I just graduated
and then somebody asked you thatquestion.
Um, you know, what do I need todo?
(27:44):
I mean, what what is you knowjust a uh broad brush response
you could give a recent collegegraduate?
Yeah, yeah.
And uh I what I do a lot is Icommunicate that you got to get
started early.
Okay.
And I know this doesn't help thethe right the graduate right off
the bat, but getting startedearly, like when I got started
(28:04):
at NASA, I was a junior goinginto my senior year.
NASA had kind of classified meas, oops, how did he make the
list?
And oh, the the hiring officialwants to hire him.
He liked him so much, he wantsto hire him, but that's a rare
opportunity.
I think if I could talk to youknow folks coming in from high
school, folks in their freshmanand sophomore seasons, please
(28:27):
get started early.
I think that really helps.
It takes a lot of the load andthe pressure off and being
integrated sooner than later.
My sister, you know, she's a lotyounger than me, but she just
graduated from the University ofAlabama and Huntsville.
She had been interning for twoor three years and she just
landed a landed a job at the endof that.
And so I think I think planningand not waiting until the last
(28:50):
minute is gonna help folks uh alot.
And for, you know, for a recentgraduate, folks will figure it
out.
Uh, folks, there areopportunities that are out
there.
You just got to know what youwant and uh and be able to kind
of kind of zone in and reallyhave focus.
I think sometimes people aretrying to apply on everything
and you're really not gonna besuccessful.
(29:10):
What do you really want toachieve?
Where do you see yourself inthree years, five years, 10
years?
And what are the steppingstones?
Like, hey, this is my story ofwhere I've been, where I'm at,
and where I want to go.
Okay.
And then help me figure outlike, okay, to get that delta,
these are some key things I'mgonna have to do, but trying to
do it early.
Don't wait till the end.
And that's that's great.
And again, I want to reiteratejust everything that I've heard
(29:32):
from you know, faculty andstudents and Dean Bisping.
It was just a great experiencefor them.
And I know it was for you foryou.
And as I mentioned earlier, Ithink a lot of people think of
you as being part of the UCAfamily now.
And I I hope you feel thatconnection too.
I do.
And I again can't thank you foruh for opening that door.
And uh shoot, y'all had me analumni, and I'm not an alumni,
but I felt like one.
(29:52):
So thank you.
Good, very good.
Yeah, that was great.
Great time there at the moment,Terry.
Uh, real quick, I wanted to getyour take on you know, one of
the biggest projects that wehave happening uh in development
is our new innovation campus uhin Conway.
You know, it's a different, uh,it's not just a building, it's
kind of a different model morethan a traditional academic
setting.
So you've got you know,engineering labs, coding
(30:14):
programs, workforce training,um, you know, private employers,
all going to be under one roof.
And we're gonna launch this uhthis upcoming fall.
And it's the the it's builtaround trying to make better uh
you know education connecteddirectly to industry needs uh in
Arkansas.
So when you and again, you havea very you know broad-based uh
uh knowledge of that.
(30:34):
Um, when you hear about that,you know, what you know what
what gets your attention?
I'm excited and thrilled for theuniversity on the innovation
campus.
It reminds me a little bit ofthe ecosystem that we're trying
to build within NASA.
Again, it's it's uh it's it'sgovernment, it's industry, and
it's academia.
And so really be thinking about,I think, uh I think it's it's
(30:57):
gonna be big on the key playersand the partners.
And remember, you can't doanything alone.
And so the partners that you uhbring in and really try to think
about what are the key problemsthat you're trying to solve.
And uh one thing that at NASA,especially these last few years,
they've been talking aboutarchitecting from the right.
From the right is what's theoutcome you want to see?
(31:19):
And then you can architect it tothe left of like what do we need
it?
We what what do we need to do?
And what kind of players do weneed to have involved to help us
again achieve the bold goalsthat we want to achieve?
Okay.
What is the, or maybe I know wetalk about artificial
intelligence, everybody talksabout it a lot.
Uh, it seems to have become, ifit wasn't mainstream a year ago,
(31:41):
it's mainstream now.
Um, what skills, from yourperspective, are more valuable
in the artificial intelligenceage that we're in?
Yeah, it's incredible.
Again, five and eight-year-old,and we got these kids on iPads
who are doing like, how did youdo that again?
We get here.
So I am I am a uh I'm verythrilled for the future.
(32:04):
I'm thrilled for how AI is goingto again accelerate change.
Um, and obviously it's got to bedone in smart ways.
Um, but I would say uh, youknow, one thing I I tell
students is one thing that'simportant is agility and
resilience.
Like you need to be agile.
Um, change is happening at sucha rapid pace.
(32:28):
And I don't think that's gonnabe slowing down anytime soon.
And so I think having a mindsetand being open to uh not only uh
you know learning and curiosity,but agility and resilience
because things aren't gonna goright the first time or the
second time or the third time.
But if you've got thatresiliency and you've got that
(32:49):
grid to make it through kind ofthe the waves of life, the waves
of a career, the ups and downs,I think that is gonna be key.
And uh I'm again thrilled forthe opportunities that AI
brings.
Um uh, you know, not just onsmall scale and folks on their
phones, but agentic and andbeyond.
You mentioned you a couple ofyears now, Northwest Argentine.
(33:11):
What's your favorite thing aboutliving in Northwest Argent Song?
That's a great question.
I think I could I could go downthe list of again, uh
neighborhood, community, um,food, but I I I am I am happy my
kids are happy.
You know, I am happy my wife ishappy.
I am happy, I am happy.
Yeah.
That's great.
(33:31):
And so I'd say uh I think it'sit's the it's the full effect of
just kind of that, again, thatecosystem of of neighborhood,
community, uh, and opportunitythat's out here.
And um it's it's striking theright balance, not just for one
person or two people, but theentire family.
Have you sat in a pilot's chairin a space shuttle?
(33:52):
Nah.
Uh actually I have.
Uh not while it was flying, butI have sat in it.
Not while it was like, thanksfor the that's a good, yeah, not
while it was flying.
But yeah, there's a picturesomewhere out there.
That's awesome.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, if you weren't doing this,if you weren't working for NASA,
one of the country's premieragencies, what would you be
(34:13):
doing?
Oh my gosh.
Uh, I think as a kid I wanted towork on Wall Street.
Um again, you know, that's justlike the throwing it out there.
But uh yeah, I would want tofind an organization that aligns
with my values.
And for NASA, trying to achieveum what's never been done
(34:34):
before, um, what's gonna advancehumanity, uh, what's really
gonna rewrite textbooks.
That's what excites me aboutNASA.
And so if I for some reasondidn't have that opportunity to
do that at NASA, I'd be lookingfor um, you know, the the right
way to support community,academia, industry, uh, that
(34:54):
that kind of meets some of thoseneeds.
I mentioned earlier theperception of NASA for most
people, rockets and astronauts.
What what is uh maybe uh amisconception about NASA, just
about the agency?
Yeah, um that's a greatquestion.
Misconception.
I'd say people think yeah, I dothink we've got just what I
(35:16):
said, yeah.
We are taking people to moon,Mars, and beyond.
Okay, and so a lot of times themisconception is ah government
organization, uh, yeah, takingforever.
We're doing things that havenever been done before.
People's lives space is hard.
And so um I think uh I think umagain, incredibly uh grateful
(35:42):
that I get to work with thepeople, the talent um that I do.
And I'm incredibly grateful forthe administration for giving us
again um uh goals and missionsthat not only I get excited
about, but the the nation getsexcited.
Yeah.
And so I just think abouteverything, you know, with those
(36:04):
astronauts coming back home.
It wasn't just like two or threepeople at NASA that got excited
about it.
There were communities, states,nations.
Yeah.
Kudos from I mean, we just a lotof us got back from Space
Symposium and yeah, 10,000people uh who were thrilled at
what NASA and Artemis IIaccomplished.
(36:24):
And so our administrator, he'ssaying, we're not done yet.
The day that we landed ArtemisII was the day that Artemis III
started.
Yeah.
And he says, you need to thinkeven broader than that.
It's not just three.
There's four, there's five.
He wants to get it to Artemis100.
And so it kind of makes you kindof look back and say, hey, we're
(36:45):
we're in the middle of we'restarting a movement, we're
starting a completely newmovement that's again, um,
that's meo.
We're thinking about a moonbase.
Yeah, not even thinking aboutit.
It's it's you know, we're goingto build a moon base.
Again, we're not just plantinguh uh boots on the moon.
We're gonna be there and thenwe're gonna have an eye towards
(37:06):
Mars.
And so I'm I'm I'm thrilledabout thrilled about that.
Misconceptions come in play, butum, there's some cool stuff.
Yeah, I would be thrilled aboutthat too.
I mean, just I think themisconception is you say that
and you know NASA's going tosend somebody to Mars like it's
just a sentence, like, okay,that's what they're and then it
just is automatically somehowgonna happen.
Yeah, and it's not obviously uhnot gonna not not not that way.
(37:29):
I mean, it's not just an easything to do.
Yeah, that's that's great.
Well, uh, listen, Amir, reallyappreciate your time.
And, you know, again, you and Ihave become good friends.
I've genuinely enjoyed gettingto know you, but more
importantly, um, you know, we'vehad a very meaningful connection
between you and University ofCentral Arkansas.
So um, you know, I appreciateyou being here.
I appreciate it.
(37:49):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you, buddy.
All right.
And that is the latest editionof Central to NWA.
As always, we appreciate youtuning in.
Until next time, go Bears.
That's it for this episode ofCentral to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm Paul Gatling, SeniorDirector of Northwest Arkansas
Engagement for the University ofCentral Arkansas.
(38:10):
Be sure to subscribe to the showand follow UCA on all the
appropriate social media.
I'll see you next time onCentral to NWA.
This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andwe are bringing the University
of Central Arkansas to NorthwestArkansas.
Each episode, we will talk withleaders, alumni, and innovators
driving this region forward.
People who are shapingindustries and defining what is
next for our state.
(00:22):
Let's get started.
All right, we are back withanother edition of Central to
NWA, UCA podcast.
Paul Gatling here with you.
And joining me in the studiotoday in Rogers is a senior
executive with NASA.
He helps oversee billions inassets and operations at one of
their premier research centers.
(00:42):
He works around aerospace andartificial intelligence and
advanced systems around some ofthe smartest people in the
world.
And he lives right here inNorthwest Arkansas and still
kind of blows my mind when I saythat.
So Amir Delamy, he's the chiefoperating officer of NASA's Ames
Research Center in SiliconValley.
He's here with us today.
Amir, great to see you, man.
Hey, Paul, great to see you.
(01:03):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Yeah, really looking forward tothis.
And here's something else that'sgonna blow your mind if you're
watching or listening with ustoday.
This past semester, Amir becameum, you know, part of the
University of Central Arkansasfamily.
He was the uh executive inresidence at our college of
business, uh, had three campusvisits during the semester, lots
of terrific interactions withour students and faculty.
(01:26):
And honestly, from everythingI've heard from you know Dean
Tim Bisping and PresidentHouston Davis uh and others, um,
they absolutely loved it.
And I know talking with you, youhad the same reaction too.
You loved being down there.
Yeah, I just uh I love theenergy out there and uh looking
forward to hopefully more in thefuture too.
Well, I can tell you that thatwe are too.
We want that relationship tocontinue uh in some form uh with
(01:48):
you and UCA.
So uh, and I want people to knowalso, you know, how that all
came about.
And we'll get into some of theUCBA UCA specifics later, but
um, you know, Amir and I met uhthrough LinkedIn, right?
You remember this story?
I remember it clearly.
Yeah.
I mean, Amir sends me a message,and you know, hey, let's get I'd
like to meet you.
I read your stuff, that's great,and I'd like to meet you.
(02:09):
And of course, me, I see COO ofNASA, Rogers, Arkansas, and I
was like, yeah, I'd like to meetthis guy too.
I've got a few questions.
And so um, you know, fastforward several months, and you
know, you spent a semester atUCA, and uh, you brought your
wife uh Bliss to our big alumnievent in Bentonville at the
momentary a few weeks ago.
(02:29):
So man, you're in the bearfamily.
Yeah, I'm feeling it.
I'm feeling it.
I love the logo, and uh, I'vegot quite a few pins and some
swag build up.
So I appreciate it.
Well, we appreciate you.
And so um, yeah, let's just, youknow, first things first, when
people hear NASA executive,C-suite executive at NASA, you
know, living in in NorthwestArkansas.
What's their reaction usually?
(02:50):
Do your neighbors know what youdo?
Uh uh a couple of them do, and alot of them don't, but uh, yeah,
I fly a little bit under theradar.
But uh I think it's uh I I Ithink for for me it's just been
an awesome opportunity.
17 years in NASA, been atMarshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, I've been atWashington, D.C.
at their headquarters office,and last six years at NASA Ames
(03:12):
Research Center on the WestCoast.
And uh, you know, uh originallyplanned to move out there,
pandemic happened, schoolshutting down, kids.
We got two little ones, uh,they're eight and five now.
But uh a lot of my wife'sfamily, central Arkansas, been
area.
And so uh around that timeframe, uh work was flexible to
(03:33):
allow me to uh uh uh relocate toArkansas and uh go back and
forth to California.
And so that's worked, worked outwell.
There's a lot of long nights,long weekends, um uh kind of
working around the clock, uh,getting the mission done.
But at the end of the day, uhthe arrangement works well and
uh excited about it and uhexcited about this community too
(03:55):
and just NWA and just what it'sspurring and the and the
economics and the uh and and thepeople.
Um so looking forward to uh totalking more about this.
You know, it's funny when I metyour wife uh Bliss and we talked
about, and you told me she wasfrom Benton, you know, I'm from
Bryant, you know, Celine Countyuh connection there, and and uh
uh we quickly discovered, youknow, growing up, I read in the
(04:16):
paper, you know, there was acivic official in Benton uh
named Freddie Burton, who wasand that that's her grandfather
or somebody that's in herfamily.
I'm like, golly, this Arkansasis such a two degrees of
separation from everybody,really.
Yeah, it is a small small world.
Freddie is known as Pappy to uhto the granddaughters, he's very
(04:37):
loved by all of us, but uh he'suh he's just an amazing
individual, not just in thecommunity and the network and
the people that he knows, but hespent a lot of time up here too
because he he loves those girls.
Freddie and Brenda, they spent alot of time up here.
So I'd say it's their secondhome.
Hopefully their first someday.
Yeah.
What does, you know, kind of inin layman's terms, just explain
(05:00):
your job at NASA.
What does a day look like foryou as the as uh overseeing uh,
you know, the the technologycenter in Silicon Valley?
Yeah, I I think NASA Ames is avery unique uh uh campus.
I get to I get to oversee andsupport uh the operations of a
2,000-acre campus uh nestled inthe middle of Silicon Valley.
Uh and you know, we've got$8billion of assets, it's just a
(05:23):
billion dollars uh about a year.
But we've got incrediblepartnerships across industry,
academia, uh, and othergovernment players, including
the Department of War.
And so just really overseeingthe operation, all of our
facilities that we've got, over200 facilities, 5 million square
feet, uh, and ensuringoperations to meet the NASA
mission to get our astronauts tomoon, Mars, and beyond and bring
(05:47):
them back home safely is reallyour bread and butter uh from a
from a campus standpoint.
But I'm truly blessed to workwith some uh not only an
exceptional leadership team thatwe've got out there, but
exceptional world-classresearchers.
And so um, really cool stuff,very blessed.
But uh, but I'm excited.
I'm I'm very excited about themission.
Yeah, you had a successful uhmission not too long ago, too,
(06:08):
right?
I mean, that was a big day, bigweek.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, um, we we were excited aboutnot only Artemis One, Artemis
One was uh basically sending upa cap capsule, doing a figure
eight around the moon andbringing uh the capsule back,
non-man, no, no uh astronauts init.
Artemis two was where thepressure was really on, uh,
(06:29):
especially looking at that heatshield and uh and doing that
similar mission, figure eightwith four astronauts, four lives
on the line, and bringing themhome safely.
Um, there were a lot of nervesin it.
Our team is core and crux to towhat we do with that mission,
but uh it was beautiful to seeum uh the the parachutes open
up, the heat shield lookbeautiful, and uh those
(06:51):
astronauts coming home.
And uh it's incredible to seethe impact not only that they've
had across the nation, butacross the entire world.
Right.
How much does your job include,you know, because you're not um,
you know, when people think ofASA NASA, they think of, you
know, the rockets and theastronauts, right?
But you're you're you're not theSTEM guy, right?
You're so how much does your jobrequire um, you know, uh
(07:14):
coordination between governmentand academia and higher
education, private institution,all of that seems like it's a
that's a part of your job.
Oh, yeah.
It's an entire ecosystem, it'snot just one piece.
Uh I think especially over theselast several years, we're not
gonna be able to do the boldmissions of the nation trying to
do it on our own.
(07:34):
It's really gonna take uh thegovernment, it's gonna take uh
key industry players, it's gonnatake new startups, it's gonna
take academia to help supportthat.
And so it's the entireecosystem.
And I love how, especially theselast few years, I've seen that
ecosystem get closer andstronger.
And with a national space policythat's giving even stronger
direction on what we're going toachieve.
(07:56):
Um, I see the broader communitygetting even closer behind
behind those bold goals,correct?
Well, let's figure out then howAmir Delami gets to NASA.
How does anybody get to NASA?
You know, where did you wheredid you grow up?
What kind of kid were you?
Yeah.
Born and raised in Huntsville,Alabama, uh, family immigrated
here 40, 50 years ago.
(08:17):
Uh, and uh parents landed in inHuntsville.
So I grew up there.
Uh parent, my dad uh had amechanical engineering degree,
but ended up owning businessesuh in Huntsville.
And so I really I grew up at ayoung age, at the age of five, I
was running cash registers andgas stations and convenience
stores.
Yeah.
Uh and at the time I was like,what the heck?
(08:39):
Like, you know, why am I notgonna go outside and play with
my friends?
And why am I not gonna go to theskating rink and other things
that that kids at that agetypically do?
But honestly, it was it was itwas the best, it was the best
experience ever.
Not only did I have the bestmentor ever in my dad, um, but
also uh I got experiences atthat young age that I've used
(08:59):
throughout my entire life andcareer.
And so fast forward, I went tothe University of Alabama,
Huntsville, played collegesoccer there, D2, uh, and also
was the vice president offinance with their student
government association, another,another great experience.
Um, but I threw my name in thehat for uh a couple uh
internships.
And uh Huntsville has gotRedstone Arsenal with the Army
(09:19):
and NASA and others.
And uh that didn't go, you know,I didn't I didn't get a response
back from the Army.
Okay, well, and then I sawsomething come in for NASA and I
was like, I know how this rodeogoes.
And they say, we're reviewingyour resume.
I've been down this rodeo, I'llnever hear back.
And then I got a response for aninterview, and then one thing
led to another, and I became anintern at NASA Marshall Space
(09:41):
Flight Center, the actualorganization that builds the big
rockets.
And so uh awesome foundation,but that was my that was my foot
in the door into NASA as anorganization.
Right, but you didn't dream oflike, and like you said, the
Marshall Center, you know,several thousand people working
for NASA and Huntsville is a youknow a NASA town, but that
wasn't necessarily likesomething you thought about as a
kid or dreamed about as a kid.
(10:02):
My mind was not expanded to atthat at that time to be able to
even think about that.
I'd grown up in, you know, likeI said, convenience stores and
running businesses by the age ofyou know 12 or 13.
My parents are handing me overthe keys, and I'm running full
operations of these, these, uh,these, these, these, you know,
organizations and businesses andthe people around it.
(10:23):
So I I I had that um early on,but I never had expanded my mind
to ever think I'd be working uhat NASA.
I mean, that is such an uhamazing experience.
And so yeah, that wasn't thatwasn't part of the cards.
Yeah.
So that though the that youngerAmir years, teen years, that was
sounds like it was veryinfluential in your um that
(10:44):
drawing you towards that systemsand organization and leadership
career.
Yeah, yeah.
Uh just just watching my dad uhand how he ran an organization.
Not only did he run theorganization, he was an
influential individual in thecommunity.
That was what was so cool aboutit.
His name was Ali Delamy.
Um, and everyone would come inthat store, Mr.
(11:05):
Ali, Mr.
Ali, Mr.
Ali.
He was really an individual thatpeople loved in that area.
And so, you know, it's one thingto think, ah, you're just
running a little small business.
But it was crazy how that areaat the time was a little bit
rough too.
But he helped clean up thatarea.
And that, you know, Governor'sDrive back then was a place you
don't want to be be at, youknow, past five or six p.m.
(11:28):
And then now you drive downGovernor's Drive and it is a
totally different experience.
And so um, I I, you know, everytime I drive by that store, the
pantry, the pantry food store,um, I think about my dad and and
the impact that he had there,not only on that community, but
on me as a as a growing leaderuh uh you know down the road.
So this is probably a uh thisquestion is it would maybe hard
(11:50):
for you to crystallize, maybenot, but you get the you do get
the initial response from NASAto get your foot in the door and
you begin.
What was uh, and that was apretty big break, I guess.
What was the biggest break ofyour career?
I mean, you said 17 years withNASA.
Yeah.
How have you been upwardlymobile in such an organization?
Oh gosh.
Uh number one, NASA's got anincredible leadership uh that uh
(12:13):
invests in their nextgeneration, and I'm a product of
that.
Um, but really I think, I thinkthe the curiosity and the grind
um in that environment was whatreally helped me out early in my
career.
I really wanted to delve myselfinto anything and everything I
could.
I wanted to learn, I wanted tobe a sponge.
There were so many crediblesupervisors, mentors, leaders
(12:34):
around.
And so I really threw myself uhinto it all.
And I remember a new account.
I was in the I was on thebusiness side, so I was working
in the CFO shop, and uh a newaccount called the Office of the
Chief Technologists had openedup.
And every, you know, all thesenior, uh, senior budget
analysts, they had key accountsthat they oversaw for the center
(12:55):
uh in support of the agency.
And I remember my team leadcoming in and saying, hey,
there's something new calledOCT, Office of Chief
Technologist.
Who wants to who wants to runthis?
My hand shot up so high.
And I raised my hand and I said,I want it to be me.
And everyone's just lookingaround like, why?
Like that is, you know, it'slike a this thing won't even
(13:15):
exist in a couple of years.
Why would you even whatever, lethim here do it?
And I delved myself into it.
I learned every I I I knew it, Iknew it uh kind of like the back
of my hand.
And uh, and I rememberheadquarters being in town that
came for a little uh summit or aretreat or a workshop.
And I remember the the guy kindof presenting, and I was just so
(13:36):
curious and I had so manyquestions.
And I remember as he'spresenting, I'm I'm kind of sir,
you know, and firing off kind ofquestions.
And then at the first break,about 30, 40 minutes later, you
know, and I felt like there wasa high level of engagement.
But the break, he says, You outhere.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I talkedway too much.
He's gonna say, Look, you budgetweenie.
(13:57):
What you know, I'm here to talkabout the programs and projects.
Like, what are you doing askingme all these questions?
I thought, you know, so I'mgoing to him and I'm like, Yes,
sir.
And he says, I love it.
How do I get you toheadquarters?
And I just, you know, kind ofshot back, headquarters,
Washington, D.C.
I've lived in Alabama all mylife.
And so I think that was thefirst shot.
And that really opened thedoors.
(14:18):
That really got me exposure touh intense and high uh high
tempo kind of situations, buthigh stakes situations as well.
When you're working with uh uhuh Congress, when you're being
asked to go present at the WhiteHouse and you're uh very early
in your career, you know, uh andvery early in uh in age as well,
(14:41):
that gets you um that gets youprepared for a lot of things
later, later in your career.
And so I think that was thefirst real break.
Obviously, there was a lot ofother things before that, but
that was the first one where Icould tell that's made a
difference in my careertrajectory.
So when the stakes are reallyhigh like that, and you said,
and you've got, you know, allthe smartest people in the room
(15:04):
from all over the world, andthey're not all gonna agree all
the time.
Um, what have you learned aboutleadership in in instances like
that?
Yeah, no, I I deal with it everyday, multiple times a day.
And it feels it's kind of, youknow, I've got maybe five or six
tiger teams all going at once.
So I'm popping in and uh and youknow, coaching and
(15:25):
quarterbacking where it'snecessary.
But um, we've got incredibletalent.
Uh, we've got experiencedleaders and professionals, we've
got uh talented, smart.
Again, some of these people areworld class.
And so I love the differentperspectives.
I've never walked in a roomthinking that I'm the smartest
person in the room.
(15:46):
If that's the case, I'm in thewrong room.
And so I love surrounding myselfwith these people and really
figuring out all kinds of keyperspectives from the scale of
what's working well, what's not,and what do we need to change?
And working and coalescingthings kind of as a team, uh,
especially to meet not only thebold goals, but the accelerated
(16:06):
timelines.
A lot of the things that we'redoing today, you know, you may
have spanned over like a two orthree year period in the past.
Now it's a rip the band-aid offapproach, I think, in a great
way to where we're drivingchange and transformation that
may have taken three years andlike three to six months.
Yeah.
And so for a large organization,I think that's difficult, but I
(16:29):
think it's also uh uh uh puttingus in a better position in the
long term and really helping usget to a more effective and a
more efficient organization toagain meet and align with the
bull goals that the nation'strying to reach.
So something you've mentioned acouple of times, and I know it's
important to use leadership.
And you know, it's you overseeincredibly complex complex
systems, but at the end of theday, leadership is about people,
(16:51):
right?
So NASA is is obviously, and youmentioned it, elite level
talent.
Um, you know, deep bench, asthey say.
I mean, just across the board.
So what separates those people?
What separates the best leadersin rooms like that?
I mean, they're all smart andgood at what they do, but what's
the separating factor?
A separating factor is not supercomplex.
(17:13):
The separating factor is beinggood with people, being able to
uh really, I think, I think, youknow, it it starts with the
basics.
The basics are really you've gotto have trust with people.
To have trust with the people,you've got to have relationships
and build that and really carefor the actual individual that
you're working with.
And so that does take time.
(17:35):
But um, but I think that is thatthat's the key thing is is
really having a relationshipwith those people so you can
actually get to the crux of keyissues and work through key
issues.
There is no time for, you know,second level, third level like
type of meetings to be able to,you know, talk about things and
(17:55):
and whatever it is.
It's like sometimes you justneed to hash it out then and
there and having a trust,trusted environment to be able
to do that.
I think people really uhappreciate the lay it out on the
line, but do it in a respectfulfashion.
Let's figure out what the risksare, what the concerns are, what
the opportunities are, what themitigations are, and let's find
a way forward.
Sure.
(18:16):
All right.
You, as we said, you spend a lotof time in Silicon Valley and
the innovation culture there.
Then you come home uh toNorthwest Arkansas.
What similarities do you see uhin those regions?
I think I've been extremelyimpressed.
I've only been in NWA for twoyears, um, a little bit less
than that.
I've been extremely impressed bythe innovation environment here
in NWA.
(18:36):
Um, it is not something thatpeople think about.
Obviously, we've got aremarkable uh anchor in in
Walmart and what they are doing,not just for this community, not
just for the nation, for theentire world.
It's extremely impressive, thespeed and scale that they move
out.
And a lot of times you thinkthey're a retail organization.
I would beg to differ.
(18:57):
They are a technology and aninnovation that works in retail,
that that and that works inretail and uh is extremely wise
in how they use uh their theirscale in strategic ways.
And so I I I love that.
Um, I I think a lot of peopledon't know um in the Silicon
Valley arena about what's goingon at the speed and scale it's
(19:18):
going on.
But I I see a lot ofsimilarities there um uh with
you know Silicon Valley.
You know, and that's how wewe've been describing for a few
years too, even back to mybusiness journal days.
We would JB Hunt is not alogistics and transportation
company, they're a technologycompany that works in
transportation.
Same thing with Walmart.
(19:39):
So you you kind of alluded to itthere.
What is underrated aboutNorthwest Arkansas uh on a
national perspective?
I mean you travel a lot indifferent areas of the country.
Yeah, I think uh, you know, someof the from the technology
standpoint, uh I've talkedabout, but the from the living
standpoint, this is such atremendous place to be.
I mean, you know, we're here um,you know, just just uh just
(20:02):
right next door.
And um I think about theschools, I think about our two
daughters, eight and five.
They've got a tremendouseducation.
I think about the community,what we've got access to, uh,
the people, the community thatwe've got access to, uh is
top-notch from the three or fourdifferent places that uh I've
lived.
(20:22):
And then you think about themuseums, the food, the these are
not just like little, you know,regional hubs that you see.
These are national scale.
I mean, you think about likeCrystal Bridges and some of the
key uh uh players in town.
These are national scale, globalscale entities who happen to be
in the NWA and we get thebenefit of them.
(20:44):
Yeah.
Do you do you own a mountainbike?
You ride mountain bike?
Oh my gosh.
I do I used to, and uh I keepnudging the wife a little bit
and she's nudging me.
So I maybe, maybe in the future,but uh not not yet.
Hopefully soon to come.
Let's talk about um, you know,elite talent and innovation uh
long term.
Do you think regions likeNorthwest Arkansas uh can
(21:06):
compete for elite talent?
I think they have.
I think they have.
You think about uh you thinkabout some of these present
company included.
Uh no, no, no.
You think about I'm justthinking about, you know, you
were an incredible connector.
And um, and I think when Ioriginally reached out to you, I
said, hey man, I love yourcontent.
(21:27):
You're, you know, especially asa new person, you're helping me
learn so much about this arena.
Um, and and that was that was athat was an amazing time for
coffee.
But since then, you're anincredible networker.
I uh you got to give yourselfkudos.
And uh you've connected me withum, you know, Sharmila from uh
from from Awesome from AliceWalton uh School of Medicine.
(21:50):
I'm looking at, you know, that'sone example of incredible talent
in NWA that would not typicallyuh uh you know happen in a you
know in a mid sized kind ofCity, but I see that left and
right.
Um, another uh kind of groupthat you connected me with was
like some key investors.
I ended up going to an event.
Um, and I was just blown away.
(22:12):
The place was just fully packed.
I mean, the full place was fullypacked of folks wanting to
invest in this area.
And so I think the talentattraction, and again, we're not
even talking about the uh, youknow, the Walmarts and the you
know, the other key players intown, but um, y'all have a great
way, we have a great way ofattracting key and top talent in
(22:34):
this arena.
Yeah, I think there's uh from anational perspective, I think
there's still curiosity aboutNorthwest Arkansas when you
there's more and more writtenand said and and uh that that
gets away from the space.
And um, Dr.
Makija, a former podcast aswell, too.
So you're joined on the rosterwith her.
So if there's anything missingthen, a true innovation
ecosystem, um, you know, whatdoes a region need that maybe
(22:57):
there is room for growth here?
What what is maybe uh a missingingredient, missing puzzle
piece?
That's a great question.
Um, I I have thought a littlebit because a lot of times NWA
gets comp, you know, hey, thisplace could be the next Austin
down the road.
Right.
And uh I've I've really donesome uh you know, I haven't done
(23:19):
as much as I want, but somemental models of like what does
it take to get to that uh tothat stage.
I do think um uh, you know,retail, logistics, technology,
yeah, a lot of that is is uhunder the belt.
But I think there could be alittle bit more diversity of the
types of industries in this areato to to build off of the
(23:42):
success of the key anchors thatwe've already got.
So I don't know exactly whatthat is.
Yeah, I mean maybe moreaerospace, you know.
Uh that's right.
Need to the aerospace mightmigrate from South Arkansas to
Northwest Arkansas.
That's right.
No, I mean it, it's all thosethings.
It's it's um it's the people,like you always the people, it's
the culture, it's the education,it's the uh a certain appetite
(24:04):
for risk taking, right?
I mean, in in whatever theindustries are.
So um, yeah, always room to touh complement those things and
add on to those things.
Um now the UCA connection.
You know, you and I, you know,we meet for coffee, we get
connected, and um, you know, I Idon't think at the time either
of us thought that severalmonths later you'd be going down
to Conway three times a semesterand standing in front of
(24:25):
students and faculty and youknow, a room full, an auditorium
full.
Um, so you go down there.
What what stood out about UCAand your experience?
You know, what surprised youabout our students?
Just pull pulling up to Conway,uh, I was very surprised.
You know, it's a it's abeautiful little town, but is it
it's a beautiful campus?
(24:46):
It is a beautiful campus.
And I I tell Dean uh uh Bisbangthat all the time.
I'm like, man, y'all, y'all havea beautiful campus.
But beyond that, there's somebeautiful people straight from
the heart.
I and that's what I really enjoyuh about it.
You know, by the time I got tomy second and third one, you see
some familiar faces, you see thestudent ambassadors and the
(25:07):
leaders who are really uhinvesting in that university.
And uh and through rounds ofconversations, I I really grew
close to those uh individualsand appreciated what they were
doing for their university.
I saw myself in them.
You know, when I was doingwithin the Student Government
Association at UAH 20 years ago,I saw them giving back and
(25:30):
investing and starting to buildthemselves as future leaders.
And um, so that was that wassuch a cool experience.
I remember you making thatpoint.
I I went down for your first uhvisit uh earlier this year, and
I think some of those kids, youknow, I was standing off, you
know, watching, you know, justkind of their reaction, which
and nobody was on their phones,by the way.
(25:51):
And it was was really engaged.
And then when you made thatcomment, like, wait a minute,
this guy works for NASA.
How does he see himself and me?
And I really think that kind ofperked them up a little bit
because yeah, you you have umyou have a path just like any,
you know, there were 20-year-oldkids just like you were.
I think that resonated.
And a lot of things, you know,resonated.
Um, so uh, you know, what otherconversations do you remember?
(26:13):
What what conversations do youremember most with maybe some of
the kids before or after youryour visits there?
Or yeah, I it was I've told youthis before, but just I it was
just it was different.
Uh, you know, and there'smultiple conversations that
happen, but looking in theireyes, even as I was presenting
to, you know, a room full, Icould tell that there was there
(26:37):
was hunger.
I could tell that there was uhdesire to really advance their
situations and their familysituations for generations to
come.
And uh and and really after thecon after, you know, even being
done with the session and theline of students that would kind
of join, that was the coolestthing, just hearing every single
(26:59):
one of their stories.
It could span from anythingfrom, you know, hey, I
appreciate that.
I do want to get more involvedto the within the university, or
hey, I'm about to graduate, I'mnot sure what I need to do.
Hey, I've been thinking aboutthis.
What are some otheropportunities that are open down
the road?
And so I I think that was thatwas cool.
I think from a from a you know,even from a personal standpoint,
(27:22):
I've told you so many peoplehave invested in me.
And this is just a very, very,very small way to help invest in
each one of those students.
And so um appreciate theconnections you made and the
opportunity the university gaveme to be a small part of that.
I want to I want to ask you thatquestion.
Let's say let's say I'm about tograduate, or I just graduated
and then somebody asked you thatquestion.
Um, you know, what do I need todo?
(27:44):
I mean, what what is you knowjust a uh broad brush response
you could give a recent collegegraduate?
Yeah, yeah.
And uh I what I do a lot is Icommunicate that you got to get
started early.
Okay.
And I know this doesn't help thethe right the graduate right off
the bat, but getting startedearly, like when I got started
(28:04):
at NASA, I was a junior goinginto my senior year.
NASA had kind of classified meas, oops, how did he make the
list?
And oh, the the hiring officialwants to hire him.
He liked him so much, he wantsto hire him, but that's a rare
opportunity.
I think if I could talk to youknow folks coming in from high
school, folks in their freshmanand sophomore seasons, please
(28:27):
get started early.
I think that really helps.
It takes a lot of the load andthe pressure off and being
integrated sooner than later.
My sister, you know, she's a lotyounger than me, but she just
graduated from the University ofAlabama and Huntsville.
She had been interning for twoor three years and she just
landed a landed a job at the endof that.
And so I think I think planningand not waiting until the last
(28:50):
minute is gonna help folks uh alot.
And for, you know, for a recentgraduate, folks will figure it
out.
Uh, folks, there areopportunities that are out
there.
You just got to know what youwant and uh and be able to kind
of kind of zone in and reallyhave focus.
I think sometimes people aretrying to apply on everything
and you're really not gonna besuccessful.
(29:10):
What do you really want toachieve?
Where do you see yourself inthree years, five years, 10
years?
And what are the steppingstones?
Like, hey, this is my story ofwhere I've been, where I'm at,
and where I want to go.
Okay.
And then help me figure outlike, okay, to get that delta,
these are some key things I'mgonna have to do, but trying to
do it early.
Don't wait till the end.
And that's that's great.
And again, I want to reiteratejust everything that I've heard
(29:32):
from you know, faculty andstudents and Dean Bisping.
It was just a great experiencefor them.
And I know it was for you foryou.
And as I mentioned earlier, Ithink a lot of people think of
you as being part of the UCAfamily now.
And I I hope you feel thatconnection too.
I do.
And I again can't thank you foruh for opening that door.
And uh shoot, y'all had me analumni, and I'm not an alumni,
but I felt like one.
(29:52):
So thank you.
Good, very good.
Yeah, that was great.
Great time there at the moment,Terry.
Uh, real quick, I wanted to getyour take on you know, one of
the biggest projects that wehave happening uh in development
is our new innovation campus uhin Conway.
You know, it's a different, uh,it's not just a building, it's
kind of a different model morethan a traditional academic
setting.
So you've got you know,engineering labs, coding
(30:14):
programs, workforce training,um, you know, private employers,
all going to be under one roof.
And we're gonna launch this uhthis upcoming fall.
And it's the the it's builtaround trying to make better uh
you know education connecteddirectly to industry needs uh in
Arkansas.
So when you and again, you havea very you know broad-based uh
uh knowledge of that.
(30:34):
Um, when you hear about that,you know, what you know what
what gets your attention?
I'm excited and thrilled for theuniversity on the innovation
campus.
It reminds me a little bit ofthe ecosystem that we're trying
to build within NASA.
Again, it's it's uh it's it'sgovernment, it's industry, and
it's academia.
And so really be thinking about,I think, uh I think it's it's
(30:57):
gonna be big on the key playersand the partners.
And remember, you can't doanything alone.
And so the partners that you uhbring in and really try to think
about what are the key problemsthat you're trying to solve.
And uh one thing that at NASA,especially these last few years,
they've been talking aboutarchitecting from the right.
From the right is what's theoutcome you want to see?
(31:19):
And then you can architect it tothe left of like what do we need
it?
We what what do we need to do?
And what kind of players do weneed to have involved to help us
again achieve the bold goalsthat we want to achieve?
Okay.
What is the, or maybe I know wetalk about artificial
intelligence, everybody talksabout it a lot.
Uh, it seems to have become, ifit wasn't mainstream a year ago,
(31:41):
it's mainstream now.
Um, what skills, from yourperspective, are more valuable
in the artificial intelligenceage that we're in?
Yeah, it's incredible.
Again, five and eight-year-old,and we got these kids on iPads
who are doing like, how did youdo that again?
We get here.
So I am I am a uh I'm verythrilled for the future.
(32:04):
I'm thrilled for how AI is goingto again accelerate change.
Um, and obviously it's got to bedone in smart ways.
Um, but I would say uh, youknow, one thing I I tell
students is one thing that'simportant is agility and
resilience.
Like you need to be agile.
Um, change is happening at sucha rapid pace.
(32:28):
And I don't think that's gonnabe slowing down anytime soon.
And so I think having a mindsetand being open to uh not only uh
you know learning and curiosity,but agility and resilience
because things aren't gonna goright the first time or the
second time or the third time.
But if you've got thatresiliency and you've got that
(32:49):
grid to make it through kind ofthe the waves of life, the waves
of a career, the ups and downs,I think that is gonna be key.
And uh I'm again thrilled forthe opportunities that AI
brings.
Um uh, you know, not just onsmall scale and folks on their
phones, but agentic and andbeyond.
You mentioned you a couple ofyears now, Northwest Argentine.
(33:11):
What's your favorite thing aboutliving in Northwest Argent Song?
That's a great question.
I think I could I could go downthe list of again, uh
neighborhood, community, um,food, but I I I am I am happy my
kids are happy.
You know, I am happy my wife ishappy.
I am happy, I am happy.
Yeah.
That's great.
(33:31):
And so I'd say uh I think it'sit's the it's the full effect of
just kind of that, again, thatecosystem of of neighborhood,
community, uh, and opportunitythat's out here.
And um it's it's striking theright balance, not just for one
person or two people, but theentire family.
Have you sat in a pilot's chairin a space shuttle?
(33:52):
Nah.
Uh actually I have.
Uh not while it was flying, butI have sat in it.
Not while it was like, thanksfor the that's a good, yeah, not
while it was flying.
But yeah, there's a picturesomewhere out there.
That's awesome.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, if you weren't doing this,if you weren't working for NASA,
one of the country's premieragencies, what would you be
(34:13):
doing?
Oh my gosh.
Uh, I think as a kid I wanted towork on Wall Street.
Um again, you know, that's justlike the throwing it out there.
But uh yeah, I would want tofind an organization that aligns
with my values.
And for NASA, trying to achieveum what's never been done
(34:34):
before, um, what's gonna advancehumanity, uh, what's really
gonna rewrite textbooks.
That's what excites me aboutNASA.
And so if I for some reasondidn't have that opportunity to
do that at NASA, I'd be lookingfor um, you know, the the right
way to support community,academia, industry, uh, that
(34:54):
that kind of meets some of thoseneeds.
I mentioned earlier theperception of NASA for most
people, rockets and astronauts.
What what is uh maybe uh amisconception about NASA, just
about the agency?
Yeah, um that's a greatquestion.
Misconception.
I'd say people think yeah, I dothink we've got just what I
(35:16):
said, yeah.
We are taking people to moon,Mars, and beyond.
Okay, and so a lot of times themisconception is ah government
organization, uh, yeah, takingforever.
We're doing things that havenever been done before.
People's lives space is hard.
And so um I think uh I think umagain, incredibly uh grateful
(35:42):
that I get to work with thepeople, the talent um that I do.
And I'm incredibly grateful forthe administration for giving us
again um uh goals and missionsthat not only I get excited
about, but the the nation getsexcited.
Yeah.
And so I just think abouteverything, you know, with those
(36:04):
astronauts coming back home.
It wasn't just like two or threepeople at NASA that got excited
about it.
There were communities, states,nations.
Yeah.
Kudos from I mean, we just a lotof us got back from Space
Symposium and yeah, 10,000people uh who were thrilled at
what NASA and Artemis IIaccomplished.
(36:24):
And so our administrator, he'ssaying, we're not done yet.
The day that we landed ArtemisII was the day that Artemis III
started.
Yeah.
And he says, you need to thinkeven broader than that.
It's not just three.
There's four, there's five.
He wants to get it to Artemis100.
And so it kind of makes you kindof look back and say, hey, we're
(36:45):
we're in the middle of we'restarting a movement, we're
starting a completely newmovement that's again, um,
that's meo.
We're thinking about a moonbase.
Yeah, not even thinking aboutit.
It's it's you know, we're goingto build a moon base.
Again, we're not just plantinguh uh boots on the moon.
We're gonna be there and thenwe're gonna have an eye towards
(37:06):
Mars.
And so I'm I'm I'm thrilledabout thrilled about that.
Misconceptions come in play, butum, there's some cool stuff.
Yeah, I would be thrilled aboutthat too.
I mean, just I think themisconception is you say that
and you know NASA's going tosend somebody to Mars like it's
just a sentence, like, okay,that's what they're and then it
just is automatically somehowgonna happen.
Yeah, and it's not obviously uhnot gonna not not not that way.
(37:29):
I mean, it's not just an easything to do.
Yeah, that's that's great.
Well, uh, listen, Amir, reallyappreciate your time.
And, you know, again, you and Ihave become good friends.
I've genuinely enjoyed gettingto know you, but more
importantly, um, you know, we'vehad a very meaningful connection
between you and University ofCentral Arkansas.
So um, you know, I appreciateyou being here.
I appreciate it.
(37:49):
Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you, buddy.
All right.
And that is the latest editionof Central to NWA.
As always, we appreciate youtuning in.
Until next time, go Bears.
That's it for this episode ofCentral to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm Paul Gatling, SeniorDirector of Northwest Arkansas
Engagement for the University ofCentral Arkansas.
(38:10):
Be sure to subscribe to the showand follow UCA on all the
appropriate social media.
I'll see you next time onCentral to NWA.
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