Szalai joined NASA in 1964 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin. He became a principal investigator for the digital
fly-by-wire system on the
Vought F-8 Crusader, which became the first aircraft to fly with an electronic
flight control system in 1972. From 1982 to 1990, Szalai directed the Dryden Research Engineering Division and served as associate director for
Ames Research Center at
Moffett Field. He held research and systems engineering positions on several aircraft programs where he investigated integrated flight controls, variable stability aircraft, and
fault tolerance in automated systems. Szalai was a flight test engineer and principal investigator on NASA's
Airborne Science Program and supported the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. He worked on programs including
Grumman X-29 and
Northrop Grumman Pegasus, in collaboration with
Orbital Inc. He also led research on integrated digital engine controls,
supersonic laminar flow, avionics, and
unmanned aerial vehicles. Szalai became facility director for NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and deputy director of Ames Research Center on December 3, 1990. He was appointed center director of Dryden on March 1, 1994. As director, he oversaw programs including
Rockwell-MBB X-31, a collaboration with
Germany, the unmanned
McDonnell Douglas X-36, and the
NASA X-38 crew return vehicle. He also oversaw supersonic tests of the
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and
scramjet-powered
NASA X-43. He served as director until July 31, 1998. Szalai initiated international cooperation efforts with Russia under the
Gore–Chernomyrdin Commission, including on high-speed flight research using the supersonic
Tupolev Tu-144. He was appointed by NASA administrator
Daniel Goldin to lead the join NASA-
Italian Space Agency Shuttle Mission Failure Board for the joint electrodynamic tether experiment on
STS-46. He also chaired a NASA assessment for Moon-Mars exploration under NASA administrator
Michael D. Griffin. After passing the directorship of Dryden to
Kevin L. Petersen, Szalai co-founded IIBP Aerospace Group, Inc. (acquired by
BFGoodrich in March 2000), acting as president until 2002. They developed
ejection seats for the
Air Force Research Laboratory and
U.S. Navy using Russian technology. Since 2003, he is president of Aerospace Services International (ASI), a technical consulting firm. In March 2003, he was commissioned by NASA as a private consultant to study using the
Apollo command and service module to return astronauts to the moon as part of the
Constellation program. As of 2021, he is chairman of the technical advisory group for
Stratolaunch.Szalai was a member of the
Applied Physics Laboratory civilian council during planetary missions to
Mercury and
Pluto. He also served on the
Scaled Composites board under
Burt Rutan during the
SpaceShipOne program that won the $10M
Ansari X Prize. He has authored more than 25 papers, was a lecturer for the
NATO Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (AGARD), and served on the 2000 aeronautics study for the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences. Szalai is a fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). == Awards ==