Name: Angela 

Education: Doctorate in mechanical engineering, University of Akron

What are you working on at Aerospace?
I oversee all mechanisms on launch vehicles, which means mechanical devices that are actuated by a spring, rotor, motor, or explosive component. In addition, I lead a team developing in-house experimental and analysis capabilities to assess/predict vibration induced damage in ball bearings. Assessing and analyzing ordnance components used on space and launch vehicles is also one of my specialties.

What is a typical day like for you at Aerospace?
My typical day starts checking spaceflightnow.com and AIAA to keep up to date on any launch schedule shifts from across the world. Then I try to chat with folks in the department to keep track of the activities occurring in the seven launch programs we currently support. I spend a lot of my time assessing potential failure mechanisms in the designs and integration techniques proposed by various customers.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?
There’s two parts. One is getting handle and teach other people about explosive devices. I love teaching. Explosives/ordnance are just so fascinating, and the issues that arise are always changing! The second is seeing my team work so hard on analyzing critical parts on the launch vehicle and then seeing the vehicle launch and have booster and space vehicle separation occur successfully. You just have to sit back and think we had a part in this success.

Tell us one thing nobody would guess about you?
I love musicals, and to bake! I’ll bake anything from simple cookies to intricate pastries and cakes.

What excites you about the aerospace industry and space today?
It is changing rapidly, and folks are pushing the barriers and challenging the historical methods unlike ever before. This is allowing new and sometimes better methods, designs, and materials to be implemented in the aerospace industry. The answer “because that is how we have always done it” is no longer acceptable, and it is bringing together new and old engineers to collaborate with/mentor each other more.

Would you be willing to colonize Mars if it meant never returning to Earth?
I’d give it a whirl for sure! Seeking the unseen and unknown is something I love. I still remember gazing at the many mobiles of our solar system I made as a child, wondering if anyone I knew, let alone myself, would get to touch another planet.

Ready to join the Aerospace team? Visit our careers page.