Metrology Today Podcast S4E2: Galen Liao, MSC President 2025

Galen Liao is department manager of Engineering Asset Management for Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leader in global security. 

 

Experience: Galen leads the company’s Engineering Asset Management (EAM) organization which supports program execution through the reuse of company resources via the test equipment pool and by providing top of the line calibrations.  EAM is recognized as an industry leader and runs the largest calibration laboratory in the company, arguably the largest cal lab west of the Mississippi, and is the 3rd largest general purpose electronic rental pool agency.  EAM leads and manages the NGC metrology & equipment rental organizations by providing an affordable comprehensive solution for managing the measurement and test equipment life cycle. 

 

Experience: After earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley (Go Bears!) Galen joined Northrop Grumman in 2003 as a Test Engineer for the Experimental Test Facility, He then went on to work Airborne Laser Test bed project and was responsible for managing the operation of the high energy laser.  In 2010, he joined the Metrology Services organization as a Physical Dimensional Discipline Engineer.  

 

Prior to NG, Galen has notably worked on testing a novel drug delivery system at Johnson and Johnson (Pharmaceuticals), finding and mapping oil well levels at Breitburn Energy(Oil and Gas), setting up computer networks at the California Science Center (IT), and developing next gen shuttle tile at NASA (Aerospace).  

 

Education:  Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and half-way through a masters in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University 

 

Background:  Born and raised on the hard streets of Torrance, CA. Galen was a latchkey kid and has gone to public school all his life.  His premier achievements include skipping kindergarten and setting the CAMS (California Academy of Math and Science) waterpolo team record (8) steals for a single game.  In the BC (Before Child) era he enjoyed running marathons, surfing, snow boarding, and dragon boat racing.  Now he spends his weekends coaching his son’s AYSO soccer team, teaching him how to swim, or cheering him on in his local YMCA basketball league.  Galen has completed several leadership-development programs and volunteer organizations, serving as an officer for Connect1NG, Space Dragons Dragon Boat team, and is currently the President and on the Board of Directors for the Measurement Science Conference.