A space technology whizz who works in the US Treasury is expected to be appointed to run one of the world's largest investment funds. Neel Kashkari, 35, who developed technology for Nasa missions in his first career, is thought to have been chosen to oversee the $700 billion fund that the US Treasury has set up to buy bad mortgages from financial institutions.

Mr Kashkari's appointment, which is to be announced soon but is likely to expire when a new government takes office in January, comes less than 18 months after Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, poached him from Goldman Sachs. There he headed the IT Security investment banking practice in San Francisco, advising companies on mergers, flotations and other financial transactions.

Mr Kashkari joined the Treasury last year as an adviser. He quickly became involved in the unfurling credit crisis and was promoted to the position of Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs.

Originally from Stow, Ohio, Mr Kashkari, who is married, got bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also has an MBA in finance. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Mr Kashkari was a scientist. He once had a job at TRW, the aerospace company, where his projects included developing technology for the James Webb space telescope. When it is launched in 2013, this telescope will observe the most distant objects in the universe.

In his new role, Mr Kashkari will oversee some key decisions on how the mortgage buyback programme will work. He will also be key to the appointment of about two dozen staff to manage the programme and between five and ten asset management firms.

The appointment of one so young, and with such a low profile, to such a big job, raised a few eyebrows yesterday.