engineering

Michael M. Watkins

Michael M. Watkins is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Michael M. Watkins rather than just read about it. In short: Michael M. Watkins is an American engineer, scientist, and a Professor of Aerospace and Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Key takeaways

Michael M. Watkins belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael M. Watkins to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael M. Watkins from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael M. Watkins is an American engineer, scientist, and a Professor of Aerospace and Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He previously served as the 9th director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and as a vice president of Caltech, which staffs and manages JPL for NASA. His directorial position was effective from July 1, 2016 to August 20, 2021.

Education Watkins attended the University of Texas at Austin and received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering in 1983, 1985 and 1990, respectively. For his doctoral degree, Watkins worked under the supervision of Bob E. Schutz.

Career Watkins joined the staff at JPL in 1993 and stayed there 22 years. During that time, he served as chief scientist for JPL's Engineering and Science Directorate, manager of JPL's Science Division and manager of its Navigation and Mission Design Section. He was mission manager from development through landed operations for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which sent the Curiosity rover to Mars. He also led NASA development and review teams for the Cassini, Mars Odyssey and Deep Impact robotic space missions. He served as project scientist for the GRACE, GRAIL and GRACE Follow-On missions. He was an originator of the concept for the GRACE mission, which uses a pair of Earth-orbiting satellites to make detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies. In addition, he has been a pioneer in the development and use of gravity data for new science applications to better understand Earth's climate and its evolution. Other research interests include mission design, instrument design and science analysis for acquisition and use of remote sensing data for Earth and other planets. In 2015, Watkins left JPL to serve as the Clare Cockrell Williams Chair in Engineering and director of the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin before returning to JPL as director the following year. He has published in both engineering and science, contributed more than 100 conference presentations, and serves or served on the boards of numerous international scientific and engineering societies. In addition, he has taught estimation, filtering theory and system engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and at Caltech.

Honors and awards 2019 – The Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (ASE/EM) Academy of Distinguished Alumni in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin 2020 – Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2022 – Member of the National Academy of Engineering

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael M. Watkins

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael M. Watkins claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael M. Watkins before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael M. Watkins ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael M. Watkins

In research: Michael M. Watkins appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael M. Watkins in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael M. Watkins is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American engineers, American engineer stubs, Cockrell School of Engineering alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael M. Watkins outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Michael M. Watkins in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael M. Watkins means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael M. Watkins out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael M. Watkins in simple terms?

Michael M. Watkins is an American engineer, scientist, and a Professor of Aerospace and Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Why does Michael M. Watkins matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael M. Watkins?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael M. Watkins.