Please join Gabrielle Barbour '20GS, Kyle Hughes '18SEAS and Michael Massimino '84SEAS for an engaging discussion about their experiences at Columbia and their journeys working in the field of space engineering. This virtual event is open to both alumni and students.
About Our Speakers:
Gabrielle Barbour, '20GS, Radiation Survivability Engineer at Lockheed Martin Space
Gabrielle Barbour graduated from Columbia University in 2020 with a degree in Astrophysics. She now works as a Radiation Survivability and Systems Engineer for Lockheed Martin Space. Born on Long Island, Barbour originally obtained a BA and MA in Middle Eastern International Affairs and studied Arabic in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2018 Barbour pursued a career change from the Intelligence Community to the Scientific. She now supports the Department of Defense, to include the United States Space Force and Missile Defense Agency. She travels around the country to world renowned laboratories, including Lawrence Berkeley, Sandia, and Brookhaven National Labs testing space-bound materials under varying radioactive environments. Barbour is an avid runner and lives in downtown Philadelphia with her partner, Nick.
Kyle Hughes '18SEAS, Software Systems Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Kyle Hughes was the Mission Manager and FSW Integration and Test Lead during extended ASTERIA mission operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. He currently is a Software Systems Engineer on the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission. He received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Columbia University.
Michael Massimino, ‘84SEAS, Former NASA Astronaut, Professor of Professional Practice in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University
Mike Massimino, a former NASA astronaut, is a Professor of Professional Practice in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia. He received a BS in industrial engineering from Columbia, and MS degrees in mechanical engineering and technology and policy, as well as a PhD in mechanical engineering, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Massimino was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996, and is the veteran of two space flights, the fourth and fifth Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions in 2002 and 2009. Mike has a team record for the number of hours spacewalking in a single space shuttle mission, and was also the first person to tweet from space. At Columbia, Professor Massimino is teaching, Introduction to Human Space Flight, and Aerospace Human Factors Engineering which harness his years of academic and professional experience. He is also collaborating on The Art of Engineering, a course in which all first-year engineers work on engineering projects with socially responsible themes.
About Out Moderator:
Tariq Malik is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com based out of our New York City office and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019.