Courses Taught
Jay Ball
Biography
Mr. Jay Ball has over 23 years of experience in System Safety Engineering. Mr. Ball currently is a Principal System Safety Engineer at BCI. Mr. Ball supports Navy System Safety organizational process improvement, workforce development initiatives, and unmanned weapon systems.
Prior to his retirement from government service, he served as the Deputy Executive Director (DED) and Chief Engineer (CHENG) at the Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA). As DED Mr. Ball led NOSSA’s technical workforce development strategy, organizational restructuring, and process improvement initiatives. As CHENG Mr. Ball led the integration of technical capabilities across NOSSA; collaborated with the leadership team to champion solutions to meet their mission and vision; advanced the discipline of weapons system safety through the incorporation of digital engineering, data analytics, systems-of-systems, and Machine Learning (ML) safety approaches. Mr. Ball stood up and led a Joint ML system safety working group in support the Office of the Secretary of Defense to develop an ML System Safety Guide. Mr. Ball further supported OSD in the development of Defense Acquisition University courses on AI and Software Safety. Mr. Ball was frequently invited as a panel member to the International System Safety Society (ISSS) Conference DoD Roundtable sessions. Mr. Ball supported the Deputy Assistant Secretary Navy (DASN) Acquisition Safety by co-chairing the technical working group to update Mil-Std-882.
Mr. Ball served as the National Division Head for NAVAIR System Safety, acting as the organization's leader for all system safety efforts and the Technical Warrant Holder for NAVAIR System Safety. Prior to that Mr. Ball worked to ensure the safety of several high visibility programs such as Firescout, Triton, and the new carrier Advanced Landing Gear and Electromagnetic Advanced Launching System, all while serving as a Branch Head and the Technical Area Expert for NAVAIR software safety.
Mr. Ball served as a Principal for Safety for programs such as the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the Cooperative Engagement Capability program, and the U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter while at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.
Throughout his career Mr. Ball acted as a subject matter expert in System of Systems and software safety to the Navy’s Weapon Systems Explosive Safety Review Board (WSESRB) and Software System Safety Technical Review Panel (SSSTRP), Joint Software Safety Authorities, and Naval Sea Systems Command, providing support such as auditing the software development processes for the Advanced Weapons Elevators.
Mr. Ball was a 2024 ISSS Conference keynote speaker on Artificial Intelligence and System Safety.