At a virtual ceremony on February 28, 2022, Metis Technology Solutions’ President and CEO Dr. Joy Colucci, Vice President of Space Programs Brian Eslinger, and SimLabs Program Manager Neil Otto, announced the company’s annual Titan Award winners. The Award winners were: Laura Plice and Mark Withers for Technical Innovation; Tim Hofmann and Emily Lewis for Technical Leadership; and Josh Puglise for Quality.
During the ceremony’s opening introduction, Dr. Colucci summarized Metis’s considerable successes in 2021, noting that they were “all due to the great work [Metis employees] do every day to further our customer’s missions, which is exactly why the Titan Awards were developed: to recognize and honor the tremendous work you all do.” Throughout the presentation, Dr. Colucci, Eslinger, and Otto took turns throughout the presentation recognizing the five award winners and thanking them for their exemplary performances.
Plice, who works on the Project and Engineering Support Services (PESS) II contract at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), was awarded in part for her role as a subject matter expert during the HelioSwarm proposal process and stewarding the proposal to its successful conclusion. Withers, an IT Security Engineer on the Space Exploration Network Services and Evolution (SENSE) contract at NASA’s White Sands Complex in New Mexico, was recognized for developing an accelerated security vulnerability resolution process that is now in use at NASA Space Centers around the country. Working as a Network Operations Analyst on Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Network (DSN) in Monrovia, California, Hofmann won his Titan Award for the tremendous amount of responsibilities he has taken on a number of high-profile NASA projects. Lewis, a Principal Simulation Engineer for the SimLabs contract at ARC, was honored with her Titan Award for her support of two simulation projects back-to-back for external customers. And Puglise, Metis’s Vice President of Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer, was presented with his award for his streamlining of quality and financial processes at corporate headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Recognizing employee performance is central to Metis’s corporate philosophy and, consequently, all successes we experience as a company,” said Dr. Colucci following the Titan Awards ceremony. “For Metis to experience such successes in otherwise challenging times is a true testament to our employees’ skills and resolve. I look forward to finding additional ways to recognize their stupendous work.”
The Titan Awards presentation ceremony is available for viewing on Metis’s LinkedIn page. The Titan Awards are only one aspect of a robust employee recognition program in place at Metis: in addition to the Annual Titan Awards, Metis recognizes Quarterly Peer Award winners and spot Star Award winners. Metis’s corporate culture and approach to employee recognition encourages both managers and colleagues to request formal acknowledgment for exemplary work.