Empower Project Success

with TSTI as your systems engineering and project management training, coaching, and consulting partner.

About Us

A respected name in space systems engineering workforce development for over 28 years.

Teaching Science and Technology Inc. (TSTI)

Teaching Science and Technology, Inc. (TSTI) is a veteran-owned small business that assists companies and organizations who wish to improve their systems engineering skills as they relate to the space domain. We present quality short courses and workshops in space systems engineering and program management to customers around the world. Our teaching style is highly interactive with emphasis on learning-by-doing and practical real-world examples and applications. Our systems engineering courses provide the processes, tools, and information necessary to “jump-start” new-hires to the space business or improve the performance of mid- to senior-level engineers, systems engineers, and technical program managers. In addition, we provide focused systems engineering support to organizations as they approach critical events in the development process and work as red team support. We wrote the books that describe SE in the space domain, and we’ve all had practical SE and PM experience in the development world.

We are happy to travel to your location around the world to help you develop your space expertise.

What Sets Our Astronautical Courses Apart:

  • CREDIBILITY: We wrote the books. We’ve been there, done that. We bring extensive systems engineering experience.
  • COMPETENCE: We’re professional teachers. This is our day job. We take the complex and make it simple. We’re explainers and motivators. Hands-on exercises ensure that you learn space by doing space. No death by PowerPoint.
  • CURRICULUM: We take you from new hire to seasoned space professional. Our on-line learning portal enables continuity through your increasing levels of expertise.
  • COST: We’re small, with low overhead, and come to you. Your cost is 50% less – you can train twice the people for the same price.
  • CONTRACTING: You can get on contract in minutes! We’re only a credit card purchase away.

Get to Know the Instructors of our Systems Engineering Courses


Dr. Wiley Larson is managing editor of McGraw-Hill’s Space Technology Series and editor and coauthor of Space Mission Analysis and Design, co-editor of Applied Space Systems Engineering and over 20 other reference books on space systems. He is the Director and Distinguished Service Professor for the Space Systems Engineering Master’s program at the Stevens Institute of Technology and was former director of SpaceTech’s Masters Program in Space Systems Engineering at Delft Technical University in The Netherlands. He has also served as Head of Engineering at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and has over 40 years experience in space launch, satellite integration and test, and space mission design. He has consulted with numerous government and industry organizations and taught thousands of people around the world. Wiley is an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He is also an adjunct professor at Stevens Institute of Technology.

 


Dr. Jerry Jon Sellers, is the author of Understanding Space: An Introduction to Astronautics, a contributing author and editor of Applied Space Systems Engineering, and a contributing author of Human Spaceflight Analysis and Design. He has over 30 years of space systems experience including Guidance & On-board Navigation Officer in Space Shuttle Mission Control; Assistant Professor of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy; and Chief of Astronautics for the Air Force European Office of Aerospace Research & Development. He is an Associate Fellow at AIAA and the former Chairman of the Space Systems Technical Committee. Jerry is a certified Scaled Agile Program Consultant and a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He is also an adjunct professor at Stevens Institute of Technology.

 


Dr. Peter Van Wirt is currently Vice President and Partner in TSTI and has been lecturing in systems engineering and space systems with TSTI since 2004. He is a former Deputy Department Head for Labs and Research of the Department of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has been a visiting lecturer for the Technical University of Delft’s SpaceTech Master’s Degree in Space Systems Engineering, is a visiting lecturer at TU Graz in Austria and is an Adjunct Professor for the Space Systems Engineering Master’s program at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He also instructs at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, CO.  He has served as a systems engineer/program manager for a variety of US Air Force engineering developments.  Peter has over 30 years of aerospace engineering experience and over 25 years teaching experience. He earned his doctorate at the Utah State University.

 


Dr. John PaffettDr. John Paffett has over 30 years of space systems engineering and project management experience. He was the former Director of Telecommunications, Navigation and Launch services, for the small satellite manufacture Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), and Chief Executive Officer of the group’s US subsidiary (SST-US). He is currently managing director of KISPE, a specialist project engineering, system design and implementation company working in the space, telecommunications and electronics industries.  John is also the founder of Applied Space Solutions Limited a company focused on the provision of space related analytics, applications and services, and a Member of the Board of Swedish Space Corporation.

 

 


Dr. Bruce Chesley is an experienced space program manager and industry executive. He served as the Chief Strategist for a space system portfolio spanning human spaceflight, commercial satellites, and government space systems and he led the early development of a global broadband satellite constellation. He has also delivered advanced space systems and prototypes while serving in a variety of roles in program management, business development and engineering. His Air Force assignments included Air Force Space Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the USAF Academy where he was an Assistant Professor of Astronautics. He was elected to the International Academy of Astronautics in 2020 and serves as a Vice President on the Bureau of the International Astronautical Federation. He has published more than 20 technical papers and book chapters on satellite design and space systems engineering.

 

 


Pam Magee is an adjunct professor for the Space Systems Engineering Master’s program at Stevens Institute of Technology and an assistant editor for McGraw-Hill’s Space Technology Series.  She earned a BS in Astronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee.  She was an Assistant Professor of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, an instructor at the National Security Space Institute and has over 28 years of teaching and aerospace experience.

 

 


Dr. Pete Swan is an AIAA Fellow with over 38 years experience in both government and commercial space systems. He is a former faculty member at the U.S. Air Force Academy, spent 8 years at the USAF Space Division in Los Angeles as a spacecraft systems engineer and program manager, and worked with the Motorola space divisions for 10 years. He was a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and is now a member of the Army Science Board. Pete is an elected member of the International Academy of Astronautics, and an active player on the Committee on Scientific Legal Liaison and the Committee on Disaster Mitigation from Space.  Editor of Impact of Space Activities upon Society and Global Mobile Satellite Systems.  He is currently leading an Academy study of Space Expectations for the Commission (6) on Society and Space.

 

 


Dr. Randy Liefer is a Associate Fellow of AIAA with over 35 years of aerospace engineering experience. He has earned advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Kansas. He has served as Division Chief and Deputy Head of the Department of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, and has been a member of the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee. He has been a visiting lecturer at Delft Technical University in The Netherlands working in the SpaceTech Masters Program in Space Systems Engineering. He is also an adjunct professor at Stevens Institute of Technology.

 

 


Terri Johnson is the Department Chair of the Computer Networking and Cybersecurity Department at Pikes Peak Community College. She has an MS in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance as well as over 20 years of experience in Information Technology, specializing in building and securing computer networks. Terri started out working for two of the world’s largest tax and audit firms, after which she transitioned to serving several educational institutions as both IT faculty and IT staff support. Terri is the lead faculty of the NSA-DHS designated Center of Academic Excellence program at PPCC; a member of WiCyS and the Colorado Springs chapter of ISSA (Information Systems Security Association), PPCC Cyber Club Advisor, and Coach to PPCC’s nationally recognized Cyber Competition Team. Her industry certifications include Cisco’s CCNA Routing / Switching and CCNA Security and EC-Council’s CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker). Terri is currently working on her DBA in Cybersecurity Management at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

 


Dr. John Turner is the President of Imagine Space Technical and Management Services, a space program engineering consulting firm located in Broomfield, CO. He was previously the Director of Safety and Mission Assurance for the Dream Chaser Spaceplane, and the Manager for Risk Analysis and Management in NASA’s Space Shuttle and Constellation Programs. In over 30 years of service on NASA, Commercial and National Security programs, Dr Turner has served in leaderships positions spanning program management, engineering development, and mission operations. He is also a retired USAF officer, having served 26 years and attained the rank of Lt Col..John also served on the Management Committee for the Reliability, Availability, Management Symposium, and as Editor for a special edition of the International Journal of Technology Management.