Tibor Balint

Currently I am a Principal Human Centered Designer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, after completing my second PhD at the Royal College of Art, School of Design, in Innovation Design Engineering. Before moving to London, I was the Senior Technical Advisor at NASA Headquarters under the Space Technology Mission Directorate, and for the prior two years acted as the Program Executive for STMD’s Game Changing Development Program. Before that, I was a Senior Technologist within the Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA HQ, and for 8 years I worked as a mission architect and technologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, CA, within the Planetary and Lunar Missions Concepts Group. I earned another PhD in engineering from Warwick University, UK; an MPhil from Exeter University, UK; an MSc from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary; and a Master of Space Studies degree from the International Space University, France. I am a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

My Design Research Focus

In my RCA research I was applying second-order cybernetics and human centered design at various touch points within NASA. These ranged from long-duration space habitats and strategic level decision making, to design environments and design education. I was demonstrating how we could broaden NASA’s engineering, technology, and management process focused paradigm by gaining new perspectives as we introduce these disciplines. In turn, these may lead to second-order change in NASA’s worldview, that allows the construction of new options through design conversations, and advance the organization towards preferable outcomes. My approach is not limited to NASA. It can be applied to other real world situations as well.