NASA Tech Talks: Spotlight on the Receiving Inspection and Test Facility (RITF)

Name: NASA Tech Talks: Spotlight on the Receiving Inspection and Test Facility (RITF)
Start: 2026-03-26T18:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-26T19:00:00-05:00
Location: Ion

The event has passed

Category: Aerospace, Founders & Startups, General Community

Free

Past Event

WHEN

Thursday

March 26, 2026

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm CDT

WHERE

Ion

4201 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002 + Google Map

what

We want HOU! Join us to discover NASA’s toughest tech challenges—and apply your skills and expertise to solve them.

Mark your calendar for March 26, 2026, as NASA’s Tech Talk will showcase the Receiving Inspection and Test Facility (RITF) located at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Recognized as a nationally accredited laboratory, the RITF lab stands at the forefront of risk mitigation for spaceflight, serving as the crucial last line of defense before hardware is introduced into mission-critical environments. The facility employs cutting-edge mechanical and electrical screening, advanced non-destructive evaluation techniques, and comprehensive failure analysis to identify and intercept counterfeit or substandard components, thereby protecting vital national space assets. Through stringent verification processes and exceptional workmanship standards, the RITF lab bolsters supply chain integrity for both governmental agencies and industry partners. This unwavering dedication to quality is essential to maintaining mission assurance for NASA and its commercial collaborators, ensuring that every flight-ready component meets the rigorous requirements demanded by human spaceflight and highly reliable space systems. As a longstanding national asset, the RITF’s contributions have been crucial in advancing spaceflight safety. We invite you to join us for this engaging NASA Tech Talk to gain deeper insight into the facility’s impressive capabilities and services. Discover how your organization can leverage RITF’s expertise, explore ways to enhance your own operations, and consider opportunities for partnership and collaboration.

RITF Capabilities & Services Highlights:

Counterfeit parts detection utilizing methods such as X‑Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Destructive Physical Analysis, Optical Emission Spectroscopy, Real‑Time Radiography, and Scanning Electron Microscopy
Nationally accredited ISO 9000, AS9100 and ISO/IEC 17025 verification and evaluation services supporting NASA, commercial partners, and external customers requiring high‑reliability components.
Mechanical testing: tensile, hardness, shear, and additional material verification techniques
Electrical screening of components and assemblies for authenticity and performance reliability
Non‑destructive evaluation (NDE) used for failure analysis
Failure analysis to identify root causes and prevent recurrence in mission‑critical hardware
Workmanship training courses covering soldering, surface-mount technology, crimping, conformal coating, fiber‑optic terminations, and ESD management

Please join us after the talk for drinks and networking at Second Draught!

About the Speakers

Paula Gothreaux has more than 30 years of experience as both Engineer and Manager in a variety of aerospace Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) disciplines (safety, risk, reliability, quality, etc.), as well as human spaceflight vehicle flight readiness and commercial design consulting efforts. She joined the SMA contractor team in 1995, later spent over a decade as an engineering consultant, and ultimately returned to the SMA Engineering Contract (SMAEC) team to lead several SMA teams and projects. Paula has held leadership positions in multiple SMA disciplines and projects. In her current role as SMAEC SAIC Chief SMA Engineer, she leads safety and mission assurance innovation and engineering oversite for all support and services to programs and projects at NASA Johnson Space Center via the Safety and Mission Assurance Engineering Contract. Paula is a native of west central Louisiana and holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from McNeese State University (1994) and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Houston – Clear Lake (2004).

Montgomery B. Goforth has more than 40 years of experience as both Engineer and Manager in a variety of highly technical space and defense-related efforts. After working for a small defense contractor specializing in anti-submarine warfare, he joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 1990. He has held leadership positions in multiple JSC Directorates and Program Offices. In his previous role as Assistant Director of the JSC Engineering Directorate, he established a framework to better focus Engineering’s efforts towards Human Spaceflight technology and systems development consistent with JSC and Agency goals for exploration. Mr. Goforth is now serving as Acting Director of the Business Development & Technology Integration Office at JSC, and as the JSC Chief Technologist. In these capacities he will be helping to expand the Houston Aerospace Community through the identification of opportunities to develop space/terrestrial technologies of interest to JSC and Human Space Exploration. Mr. Goforth was born in East Texas, raised in Southern California and Arizona, and graduated from Rice University (BSME 1982, MSME 1987).

About NASA Tech Talks

In these presentations, occurring the fourth Thursdays of the month, Mr. Montgomery Goforth and other aerospace subject matter experts will discuss the technology development challenges faced by NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the surrounding Aerospace community in our ongoing efforts as the hub of human spaceflight. Presentations will focus on the ways in which these challenges, and the associated opportunities, can be leveraged by Houston’s innovation community. We will continue to identify potential space/terrestrial technologies of interest to Human Spaceflight. Past NASA Tech Talks have included topics such as:

From Space to Startup: Leveraging NASA Technology and Innovation to Propel Your Growing Enterprise
Disruptive Filter Technology for Spacecraft Water Treatment: The New Promise of Graphene
Lunar dust capture using novel multiplexed inertial filter
Lunar Passive Fuel Cell Technologies:
Microbes in Space

PARKING

Ion District Parking Garage

Enter 4111 Fannin Street into your GPS for directions directly to this parking garage, located a block from the Ion. Parking in the Ion District Garage is free for the first two hours.

Red Parking Lot

Enter 4203 Fannin Street into your GPS for directions directly to the red parking lot, located across the street from the Ion. This lot is for overflow guest parking and tenant parking and is free for the first three hours.

For information and access to pay online for parking in the red lot, click here.

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CONTACT

Organizer

Ion

Organizer Website

ionhouston.com

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