KATY, TX Northwest Technical Solutions (NWTS) announces the addition of Rene Canales to the position of Reliability Engineering Manager. Canales will be helping NWTS to serve clients in its growing reliability-based survey business.

Canales brings more than nine years of reliability and process quality experience to NWTS. He started his career with United Space Alliance as a Reliability Engineer, where he became responsible for Astronaut and Flight Controller training during several NASA expeditions of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Canales's performance earned him the designation of Recognized Training Leader for NASA Space Expeditions 23-24, 37-38 and Flight Leader of Space Shuttle Mission STS 131.  

After six years at United Space Alliance, Canales transferred his engineering and reliability experience to the energy industry at Lloyd's Register Energy - Drilling (LRED), where he designed and built a Reliability Centered Maintenance System for one of the largest drilling operators. During his tenure at LRED, Rene implemented failure analysis processes to facilitate better collaboration between manufacturers, drilling contractors, and operators. 

Before joining NWTS, Canales also worked for Shell International Exploration & Production as a Reliability BOP Engineer - Data Manager. He managed Shell's Real Time Operations Center (RTOC), leading a team that successfully reduced blowout preventer (BOP) downtime fleet-wide.

Canales has a master's degree in computer engineering from University of Houston - Clear Lake.