During his 35+ years at the NASA White Sands Test Facility Mr. Woods has held positions of Physicist and Senior Scientist while performing aerospace propellant hazards research and systems hazard assessment. Prior experience was with Science Applications Inc. as scientist and laboratory manager for experimental characterization of nuclear weapon thermal radiation effects upon materials, and alternatively, advancement of solar thermal and photovoltaic energy systems.

Present efforts include assessment of hazards with hydrogen systems in terrestrial aerospace environments as well as those possessing PEM stacks destined for extraterrestrial missions. For the last 25 years he has been the lead instructor for NASA’s hydrogen safety courses and has participated in hazard assessment for numerous government and aerospace industry hydrogen programs.

Concurrent activities include:

• Chair of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Hydrogen Committee on Standards,
• Liaison activities for NASA to the DOE: Participation in the Annual Merit Review, project proposal reviews, and work for the Hydrogen Safety Panel.

Past liaison work has been with the:

• ISO Technical Committee 197 Hydrogen Technologies,
• Sandia National Laboratories,
• The National Fire Protection Association’s early development of the NFPA 2 Hydrogen Technologies Code,
• And HySafe, for presentation of NASA’s hydrogen safety methodology at the European Summer School on Hydrogen Safety.

In addition to research papers, publications edited include:

• Ignition and Thermal Hazards of Selected Aerospace Fluids (CPIAC SP-0802),
• Safe Use of Oxygen and Oxygen Systems [ASTM MNL36, first edition],
• Basic considerations for the safety of hydrogen systems [ISO/PDTR 15916],
• Safety Standard for Hydrogen and Hydrogen Systems [NASA STD-1740.16] and its present-day incarnation as a consensus document: Guide to Safety of Hydrogen and Hydrogen Systems [ANSI/AIAA G-095A-2017].