Dr. Aprille Ericsson
Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineer
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center
‘Moving Among the Stars’
No writer attempting to focus on Aprille Ericsson’s terrific job could possibly resist first discussing the fascinating woman herself. Aprille is the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D in engineering at NASA, the Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works. She uses her brilliance to help move satellite projects, and people’s lives.
“Shoot for the moon. If you miss you’ll still be among the stars”. This is Aprille’s motto, and she has always lived it.
From an early age, Aprille knew she had far to go. If ever anyone asked “What makes you think you can do that?” her two grandfathers and her mother made it perfectly clear that she, and her three younger sisters, could do anything. She says now, “I think it especially makes a difference when men encourage girls in their life to achieve.” As a child, she was bussed from the Roosevelt Projects in New York’s Bedford Stuyvesant, to P.S. 199 in Brooklyn. She deserved to dream big. She was the only black student in her school’s Special Progress program, and she was very good at a lot of things. She graduated from middle school with high honors, and was a member of the basketball team, school band, and science and honors clubs.
Aprille moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to live with her grandparents and attend a private high school. Her interests were varied; debate, math, science, and athletics, and she considered many paths open to her, including architecture and law. She used her summers to try different things and narrow her choices. It was after her junior year of high school that she attended a program at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and experienced a flight simulator. She suddenly realized how much she liked things that move, and set her course for a degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering.
By the time she received her undergraduate degree at M.I.T, Aprille had worked on several projects geared to manned space flight, and she applied to NASA’s astronaut program. However, the Shuttle Disaster, which took place during the Reagan administration, diverted government energies to defense. It is important to Aprille that she not be involved in any ‘destructive projects’, so she went to Howard University’s Large Space Structures Institute, earning a Master’s in Engineering and her Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering. There, she specialized in developing design procedures to be used to help control large, orbiting space structures of the future, like the Space Station. Her award-winning papers took her all over the world for presentations.
Dr. Ericsson has worked on a myriad of fascinating projects, most of them at NASA, in the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center. Many of us would have a hard time understanding these marvelous scientific adventures (I did), but Aprille’s passion for her work comes through in her voice. Here’s how she described some of what she was doing at the time of our interview. “I help to build satellites. I’m in charge of overseeing many facets of the job, including building, integration, and testing. My job means staying connected. I communicate and coordinate. As a project manager, I’m responsible for budgets. I determine how much money, how much manpower, what skills and resources are necessary to create a satellite. I keep all kinds of people, including lawyers, scientists, and contractors, focused on the goal.” April creates instruments and telescopes for scientists. When we spoke, Aprille was working on a project where the lead institution was in another country. The scientists were in Amsterdam, the contractor in Belgium. Aprille’s task was to determine and demonstrate the degree of ability to collect science, of an instrument that Aprille and colleagues would design for them at the Goddard Space Center. Imagine having the confidence to convince a bunch of researchers that the $100 million they’ll need to spend is a pretty good deal! Aprille is also involved in developing the James Webb, the telescope to replace the Hubbell Space Telescope (Hey, can my son have that old one when you’re done with it?) and the JMEX, which will look at how the sun affects Jupiter (that does seem a bargain at around $10 million). Then there’s EO-1, the first new millennium earth-observing mission, netting amazing earth images for government agencies and the public. Check out; http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html for a great view of all the missions at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Have there been frustrations on the job? A few. Though attitudes are changing toward women and minorities in the profession, she does feel her career got a bit of a slow start due to her rarity in the field, until she proved herself. She works long hours, but that partly because Aprille feels a strong obligation to talk to young people about aiming high. She has acted as mentor, teacher, career advisor and friend to many students. She is a member of NASA’s speaker’s bureau, but tries not to have her presentations interrupt her day, and will work late to make up time she uses to give back to a society that helped her reach her goals with grants and scholarships all along the way.
Budget limitations can also frustrate Dr. Ericsson. “I want to pull off the great science. It’s expensive.”
On the plus side, the gratification is huge. Aprille has won so many awards, they’d need a chapter of their own. Many are technical (top female engineer in the federal government), and many honor her incredible outreach efforts.
Dr. Aprille Ericsson is no geek. “OK, I’m a rocket scientist, but I don’t look the part. I wear suede pants!” She’s an athlete. She still plays football, basketball, softball, tennis, and likes to ski and cycle. On weekends, she travels to play coed softball on her nationally ranked team! Recently, while speaking to a group of students in D.C., she was mistaken for singer Alicia Keyes.
Dr. Ericsson admits most people are astonished when they realize what she does for a living. “Its fun to shake them up, but I also make them comfortable.” She enjoys her life in the D.C. area, where there are plenty of well-educated African-American men and women, who think her job is “cool, no big deal”.
What kind of girl is suited to this career? Aprille emphasizes that a likely candidate is a natural in math and science, an avid reader, and interested in challenging textbooks.
She also says, “You need to be a people person. You need communication skills, good writing and verbal skills. As scientists, we’re not in black boxes anymore. You need to sell your ideas to get funded or to get partnerships. You need to know who your customer is and what you can deliver.”
She’s as brilliant as they come, and as practical as a car salesman.
Aprille Ericsson delivers.
Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineer
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center
‘Moving Among the Stars’
No writer attempting to focus on Aprille Ericsson’s terrific job could possibly resist first discussing the fascinating woman herself. Aprille is the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D in engineering at NASA, the Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works. She uses her brilliance to help move satellite projects, and people’s lives.
“Shoot for the moon. If you miss you’ll still be among the stars”. This is Aprille’s motto, and she has always lived it.
From an early age, Aprille knew she had far to go. If ever anyone asked “What makes you think you can do that?” her two grandfathers and her mother made it perfectly clear that she, and her three younger sisters, could do anything. She says now, “I think it especially makes a difference when men encourage girls in their life to achieve.” As a child, she was bussed from the Roosevelt Projects in New York’s Bedford Stuyvesant, to P.S. 199 in Brooklyn. She deserved to dream big. She was the only black student in her school’s Special Progress program, and she was very good at a lot of things. She graduated from middle school with high honors, and was a member of the basketball team, school band, and science and honors clubs.
Aprille moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to live with her grandparents and attend a private high school. Her interests were varied; debate, math, science, and athletics, and she considered many paths open to her, including architecture and law. She used her summers to try different things and narrow her choices. It was after her junior year of high school that she attended a program at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and experienced a flight simulator. She suddenly realized how much she liked things that move, and set her course for a degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering.
By the time she received her undergraduate degree at M.I.T, Aprille had worked on several projects geared to manned space flight, and she applied to NASA’s astronaut program. However, the Shuttle Disaster, which took place during the Reagan administration, diverted government energies to defense. It is important to Aprille that she not be involved in any ‘destructive projects’, so she went to Howard University’s Large Space Structures Institute, earning a Master’s in Engineering and her Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering. There, she specialized in developing design procedures to be used to help control large, orbiting space structures of the future, like the Space Station. Her award-winning papers took her all over the world for presentations.
Dr. Ericsson has worked on a myriad of fascinating projects, most of them at NASA, in the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center. Many of us would have a hard time understanding these marvelous scientific adventures (I did), but Aprille’s passion for her work comes through in her voice. Here’s how she described some of what she was doing at the time of our interview. “I help to build satellites. I’m in charge of overseeing many facets of the job, including building, integration, and testing. My job means staying connected. I communicate and coordinate. As a project manager, I’m responsible for budgets. I determine how much money, how much manpower, what skills and resources are necessary to create a satellite. I keep all kinds of people, including lawyers, scientists, and contractors, focused on the goal.” April creates instruments and telescopes for scientists. When we spoke, Aprille was working on a project where the lead institution was in another country. The scientists were in Amsterdam, the contractor in Belgium. Aprille’s task was to determine and demonstrate the degree of ability to collect science, of an instrument that Aprille and colleagues would design for them at the Goddard Space Center. Imagine having the confidence to convince a bunch of researchers that the $100 million they’ll need to spend is a pretty good deal! Aprille is also involved in developing the James Webb, the telescope to replace the Hubbell Space Telescope (Hey, can my son have that old one when you’re done with it?) and the JMEX, which will look at how the sun affects Jupiter (that does seem a bargain at around $10 million). Then there’s EO-1, the first new millennium earth-observing mission, netting amazing earth images for government agencies and the public. Check out; http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html for a great view of all the missions at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Have there been frustrations on the job? A few. Though attitudes are changing toward women and minorities in the profession, she does feel her career got a bit of a slow start due to her rarity in the field, until she proved herself. She works long hours, but that partly because Aprille feels a strong obligation to talk to young people about aiming high. She has acted as mentor, teacher, career advisor and friend to many students. She is a member of NASA’s speaker’s bureau, but tries not to have her presentations interrupt her day, and will work late to make up time she uses to give back to a society that helped her reach her goals with grants and scholarships all along the way.
Budget limitations can also frustrate Dr. Ericsson. “I want to pull off the great science. It’s expensive.”
On the plus side, the gratification is huge. Aprille has won so many awards, they’d need a chapter of their own. Many are technical (top female engineer in the federal government), and many honor her incredible outreach efforts.
Dr. Aprille Ericsson is no geek. “OK, I’m a rocket scientist, but I don’t look the part. I wear suede pants!” She’s an athlete. She still plays football, basketball, softball, tennis, and likes to ski and cycle. On weekends, she travels to play coed softball on her nationally ranked team! Recently, while speaking to a group of students in D.C., she was mistaken for singer Alicia Keyes.
Dr. Ericsson admits most people are astonished when they realize what she does for a living. “Its fun to shake them up, but I also make them comfortable.” She enjoys her life in the D.C. area, where there are plenty of well-educated African-American men and women, who think her job is “cool, no big deal”.
What kind of girl is suited to this career? Aprille emphasizes that a likely candidate is a natural in math and science, an avid reader, and interested in challenging textbooks.
She also says, “You need to be a people person. You need communication skills, good writing and verbal skills. As scientists, we’re not in black boxes anymore. You need to sell your ideas to get funded or to get partnerships. You need to know who your customer is and what you can deliver.”
She’s as brilliant as they come, and as practical as a car salesman.
Aprille Ericsson delivers.
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