NASA Artemis engineers talk teamwork, collaboration during department visit
Author: John Burnett-Larkins
Aerospace engineering alumni now working with NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the moon shared words of advice with department undergraduates. The alumni journeyed to Iowa State as part of a team presenting a framed plaque to the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Made possible by Lockheed Martin, the plaque includes a miniature state of Iowa flag that orbited the moon aboard the Artemis I space mission in 2022.
The Iowa State alumni were asked: What is one skill you developed here as an undergraduate that you use today in your career?
Jeff Gutkowski
(B.S. AERE ’07) NASA Branch Chief, Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Design for Artemis missions and the Orion spacecraft
“Collaboration skills, definitely. I learned this working with fellow students on homework assignments, working as part of a team with things like high-altitude ballooning and through joining organizations like the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics).”
Jake Sullivan
(B.S. AERE ’08) Navigation Engineer – NASA Orion Navigation Team; Lunar Terrain Vehicle/Pressurized Rover Guidance, Navigation & Control System Manager
“The reason why everyone becomes a college student – learning to learn – but also developing those problem-solving and critical-thinking group skills. You can be the most brilliant engineer but if you don’t have team skills, your ideas can’t go anywhere.”
Luke McNamara
(B.S. AERE ’08) Engineer, NASA Orion Guidance, Navigation & Control Entry Mode team
“Teamwork. It’s so important to be a good team person and support your teammates by being resourceful and competent. I tried a lot of things when I was a student to figure out what I liked. I would find engineering problems that needed solving and then would look for internships where I could work with others to address that.”
Pictured at top during an Iowa State basketball game on February 16, from left: Jake Sullivan (B.S. AERE, 2008), NASA; Jeffrey Gutkowski (B.S. AERE, 2007), NASA; Wayne Chen, Vance and Arlene Coffman Endowed Department Chair, Department of Aerospace Engineering; Sara Nelson, director, NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium; Michelle Butzke, Lockheed Martin; Paul Anderson, Lockheed Martin, presenting the plaque to David Spalding, interim president, Iowa State; Arun Somani, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor, Phillip and Virginia Sproul Professor, senior associate dean, College of Engineering; Tomas Gonzalez-Torres, professor of practice, Department of Aerospace Engineering; Luke McNamara (B.S. AERE, 2008), NASA.