Dava Newman

Dava Newman is the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with expertise in Space Science through her work in aerospace biomedical engineering. She earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1986, S.M. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Technology and Policy from MIT in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Biomedical Engineering from MIT in 1992. Newman joined the MIT faculty in 1993 as Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, advancing to Assistant Professor from 1995 to 1998, Associate Professor from 1998 to 2000, and Professor from 2004 to present. She has been a Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology affiliate faculty since 1995, MIT Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow since 2000, and dual faculty in Engineering Systems since 2004. Key leadership roles include Director of the Technology and Policy Program from 2003 to 2015, House Master of Baker House from 2005 to 2015, NASA Deputy Administrator from 2015 to 2017, Director of the MIT-Portugal Program from 2011 to 2015 and 2017 to 2021, and Director of the MIT Media Lab from 2021.

Her research specializations encompass aerospace biomedical engineering, focusing on biomechanics, control and dynamics, human factors, engineering systems and design, and space policy. Newman served as Principal Investigator on five spaceflight missions: Dynamic Load Sensors experiment on STS-62 (1994), Mental Workload and Performance Experiment on STS-42 (1992), Enhanced Dynamic Load Sensors on Russian Mir (1996-1998), Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit on ISS (2015-2017), and Skinsuit experiment on ISS (2023). She invented the BioSuit second-skin planetary spacesuit system, applied to soft exoskeletons for Earth locomotion, and leads initiatives like Earth Speaks using AI for climate regeneration and Space Exploration Initiative lunar experiments. Newman authored the textbook Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, published over 350 papers in journals and conferences, holds patents in design and compression technology, supervised over 100 graduate theses, and mentored over 250 undergraduates. Major awards include NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2017), AIAA Fellow (2018) and Jeffries Aerospace Medicine Award (2018), Women in Aerospace Leadership Award (2017), honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College (2022), University of Minho (2023), and Royal College of Art (2023), and Time Magazine Best Invention of 2007 for BioSuit.