Ken Davidian has worked for the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space 
Transportation (AST) in Washington, D.C. since 2008 and is currently the Director of Research 
and Program Manager for the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation.

Mr. Davidian is also the Chair of the International Astronautical Federation Entrepreneurial & 
Investment Committee and Vice President of Strategic Communications for the American Astronomical 
Society.

Starting in 1983, Mr. Davidian spent the first years of his career at the NASA Lewis Research 
Center in Cleveland, Ohio, working for the Space Propulsion Technology Division in the area of 
analytical and experimental research on the performance of liquid rocket engines.

Between 1997 and 1999, Mr. Davidian was assigned by NASA to work as the Assistant Director of 
Operations for the Summer Session Program (SSP) at the International Space University (ISU) in 
Strasbourg, France. Upon his return to the center (which had been since renamed to the NASA Glenn 
Research Center), Mr. Davidian worked in the Plans and Programs Office.

In 2001, Mr. Davidian left government service and entered the private sector in many positions. 
He has worked for Paragon Space Development Corp. as a consultant in the role of Director of 
Operations for Cargo Lifter Development GmbH near Berlin, Germany, as Director of Operations for 
the X PRIZE Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, and then again for Paragon, as corporate Program 
Manager in Tucson, Arizona.

In 2004, Mr. Davidian moved to Washington, D.C. to work on NASA's prize program, Centennial 
Challenges. He started as a contractor and then reentered civil service when he was hired by 
NASA Headquarters in 2007, becoming both the Program Manager for Centennial Challenges and the 
ESMD Commercial Development Policy leader.

Mr. Davidian received his BS degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the 
Ohio State University in 1983, and an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western 
Reserve University in 1987. He attended the ISU SSP in 1989.