Dr. Bhavya Lal applies her expertise in engineering systems and innovation theory and practice to lead strategy, technology assessment, and policy studies and analyses at the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI). Dr. Lal is an active member of the space technology and policy community, having chaired, co-chaired or served on five high-impact National Academy of Science (NAS) committees. She is an External Council Member of the NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program. She co-founded and is co-chair of the policy track of the American Nuclear Society’s annual conference on nuclear and emerging technologies in space (NETS), and co-organizes a seminar series on space history and policy with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. She served two consecutive 2-year terms on the NOAA Federal Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES). For her many contributions to the space sector, she was nominated and selected to be a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Before joining IDA, Dr. Lal was president of C-STPS LLC, a science and technology policy research and consulting firm. Prior to that, she was the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Studies at Abt Associates, a global policy research consultancy based in Cambride MA. Dr. Lal holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a second M.S. from MIT’s Technology and Policy Program, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from George Washington University. She is a member of both the nuclear engineering and public policy and public administration honor societies.
