CH2M Hill Companies Ltd.

04/12/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/11/2021 21:51

NASA Presents Silver Team Achievement Medal to Jacobs' Amy Ochs

NASA recently awarded the Silver Team Achievement Medalto Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions Director of Communications Amy Ochs and the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge Competition team as part of NASA's 2020 Agency-Level Honors Awards virtual ceremony in early March.

The prestigious NASA certificate is awarded to government and non-government individuals for outstanding group accomplishments that have contributed substantially to NASA's mission.

'The Silver Achievement Medal bestowed upon our own Amy Ochs, and her partners on the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge Competition team, pays tribute to the exceptional efforts made through innovation and teamwork in support of NASA's science missions,' says Jacobs Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Critical Mission Solutions Dawne Hickton. 'Fortunately for Jacobs, Amy continues to bring the same dedication to her role in helping us deliver strategic communications. Congratulations to Amy on this outstanding accomplishment!'

The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge was a NASA's Centennial Challenges program competition to build a 3D-printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency's journey to the moon, Mars or beyond.

Amy's role in project support in the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge made a difference and contributed to the success of the participants and the competition.

The multi-phase challenge was designed to advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond. The competition, completed in 2019, awarded a total of $2,061,023.

  • Phase 1, the Design Competition, required teams to submit architectural renderings and was completed in 2015. ($50,000 prize purse/$40,000 awarded)
  • Phase 2, the Structural Member Competition, focused on material technologies, requiring teams to create structural components. It was completed in 2017. ($1.1 million prize purse/$701,000 awarded)
  • Phase 3the On-Site Habitat Competition, completed in 2019, challenged competitors to fabricate sub-scale habitats, and had five levels of competition - three construction levels and two virtual levels. For the virtual levels, teams used Building Information Modeling software to design a habitat that combined allowances for both the structure and systems it must contain. The construction levels challenged the teams to autonomously 3D-print elements of the habitat, culminating with a one-third-scale printed habitat for the final level. ($3.15M prize purse/ $2M awarded)

The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge was managed through a partnership with NASA's Centennial Challenges program and Bradley University.

Congratulations to Amy and her teammates on the tremendous achievement of receiving a NASA Silver Achievement Medal.