Q&A

Dean Thomas L. Magnanti The Progress of Engineering Education

Associate Professor Erik Demaine Algorithms and the Adventure of Teaching

Forrest Liau '06 Nanotechnology and Entrepreneurship

Clarence Lee '06 Technology Fair Co-Founder

Janice Voss EE '77 Opportunities in Space

Mitch Tyson '75 From Politics to Entrepreneurship

Janice Voss EE '77

Alumna Astronaut Leads Search for Earth-Like Planets
Janice Voss EE '77

Janice Voss EE '77 is the science director for NASA's Kepler spacecraft. She received a bachelor's degree in engineering science from Purdue University in 1975, and a master's in electrical engineering (1977) and doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics (1987) from MIT. She became an astronaut in 1991 and since then has completed five space shuttle flights as a mission specialist, logging over 49 days in space and traveling 18.8 million miles in 779 Earth orbits. The Kepler spacecraft is scheduled to launch in June 2008.

What do you see as the future of America's space program?

The current plan for America’s space program is that in the five to ten year time frame we will have finished building the International Space Station and will be on our way back to the moon as a stepping stone to going to Mars. The challenge is to maintain a safe, efficient, and highly productive program in the face of tight budgets. The biggest opportunity is in the private space community, which successfully produced the first privately funded suborbital flight in 2004. NASA is in the process of exploring how to use the growing capabilities in the private sector to improve access to the International Space Station.

What does your work with the Kepler spacecraft entail?

Kepler is a single-instrument (a photometer, a device that counts photons) spacecraft that will look at 100,000 stars for four years to address the question of how common Earth-like planets are in our galaxy. It looks for planets by the transit method, which is the dip in the light of a star when a planet passes in front of the star. My work involves coordinating the science needs with the spacecraft’s operational capabilities.

What advice can you give to current School of Engineering students as they prepare to enter the work force?

It is very hard to predict what employers will be looking for. However, one thing you know they will want is excellence. The best way to achieve that is to try to be honest about what you are good at and enjoy doing, then pursue that path. Then excellence becomes fun, not a chore, and your ability and enthusiasm will make you very competitive. If your qualifications match the career you were aspiring to, you have a good chance of achieving your dream, as I did. If not, you have a career you’re good at and enjoy, which was really your goal anyway.