Julie Kramer White (BSAAE 1990), director of engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center, will come to speak on the challenges of the human element in leading space mission design.

A pizza social will follow the event.

Biography

Kramer White grew up in Indiana. She knew when she was in high school that she wanted to pursue a career at NASA. To enable that goal, she received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University in 1990. She was selected for a cooperative education internship at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1986, which lead to her conversion to a full time NASA employee after graduation. She started her NASA career in the Structural Mechanics Division, learning the fundamental disciplines of thermal analysis, failure analysis, mechanical design and stress analysis, and was eventually responsible for ensuring structural integrity of the Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicles for each flight. Her interest in mechanics of materials and aging aircraft lead her to University of Utah for a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1994.

She has over 30 years contributing to NASA Human Spaceflight Programs, working in structural design, analysis, certification and vehicle systems engineering. She has provided critical expertise and technical leadership on Space Shuttle Orbiter, X-38, and International Space Station (ISS), and was one of the founding members of NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) after the Columbia accident. From 2006 to 2017, Julie was Chief Engineer for the Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle. In this position, she was responsible for guiding the Orion technical team in the development the first, human rated, deep space exploration vehicle since Apollo. After 3 years as Deputy Director of Engineering, Julie has most recently transitioned to the role of Director of Engineering for the Johnson Space Center where she is responsible for providing critical engineering support to all of NASA’s human spaceflight programs, including ISS, Orion, the Commercial Crew Program, Gateway Program, Human Lander Systems and the rest of NASA’s Artemis exploration programs.

Ms. Kramer White is the recipient of multiple NASA leadership and achievement medals, the Rotary Mid-Career Achievement as well as the prestigious NASA Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award. The Silver Snoopy is an award given by NASA’s astronauts for professionalism, dedication and outstanding support to mission success in Human Space Flight. After the successful Orion Exploration Flight Test – 1 (EFT-1) test flight in 2014, Julie was personally recognized by President Obama for her contributions to our nation’s space program as an exemplary civil servant leader. In 2015, she returned to Purdue as a part of the Old Master’s Program, and in 2017 she was honored with Purdue’s Outstanding Aerospace Engineers award. Julie is also honored to return to Purdue in April as part of the 2023 cadre of university Distinguished Engineering Alumnae.