Meet: Jennifer Murray
Biomedical Engineer
NASA Kennedy Space Center
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Who I Am
I am a biomedical engineer for Kennedy
Space Center's Engineering Development Directorate. This means that I
perform various functions relating to the design and testing of equipment
and monitoring systems. My background is in electrical engineering and
biomedical engineering.
My Career Journey
I have always been interested in math
and science, but I didn't decide to become an electrical engineer until
my third year of college. I changed my major from computer science because
I found that this program was not technically challenging for me. The
computer programming that I did in my electrical engineering classes combined
programming skills and technical applications. I graduated from
Florida A&M University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
My first job out of college was with NASA at Kennedy
Space Center working as a Computer Network Administrator. After a few
years on this job I decided that I wanted to pursue a master's degree
(M.S.) in biomedical engineering because I wanted to work on projects
that more directly benefited people. So I took a little time off work
and started the M.S. degree program in Biomedical Engineering at the University
of Miami. I have since completed the M.S. degree and am now working on
a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, also at the University of Miami, emphasizing
medical information systems. During my time in the master’s program,
I was assigned to the Biomedical Office where one of my responsibilities
was to assist in the coordination of communications and activities of
all rescue personnel during the launch and landing of the orbiter. NASA
must always be prepared to carry out any necessary rescue operations for
the astronauts.
Currently, I am assigned to the Engineering Development
Directorate where I am gaining experience in the application of various
sensors such as oxygen and hydrogen sensors. This work employs the use
of ultraviolet and infrared light which is the kind of light that you
cannot see with the naked eye. One of the ways that NASA is using this
technology is in the location of any hydrogen fires from the pipelines
on the launch pads. Remember that hydrogen and oxygen are the two fuels
that the orbiter uses to propel itself into space. A hydrogen flame is
invisible to the naked eye so it would be very easy for a person to walk
unknowingly into this flame. So, hydrogen sensors are used to warn personnel
that there is a flame and that the leak in the pipeline needs to be fixed.
Influences
My parents were the most influential
to me for my choice of pursuing the hardest subjects in school-- math
and science. I had a boyfriend in college who designed fire alarm systems
for buildings that influenced me to change my major to electrical engineering,
which had been my second choice for a degree behind computer science.
I always used to bother him with lots of question relating to electrical
engineering so I decided to find out more about the subject through my
classes.
Likes/Dislikes About Job
The best thing about my job is having
the opportunity to work on various projects that are biomedically helpful
for personnel. There is a lot of room for innovation in my group and the
people that I work with are great. The other thing that I like about working
for NASA is that there are plenty of training opportunities for an employee
to learn about new methods and technologies. My assignment in working
with sensors is a good example. The part of my job that I dislike is that
sometimes it seems that there are too few hours in a day to work. There
have been times when I was so involved with what I was working on that
I was surprised to look up to see that the clock indicated 4:30 -- quitting
time!
Personal Information
I was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
and moved with my family to central Florida during my early teen years.
I have lived in Florida ever since, but I have done a lot of traveling
to my homeland Jamaica, Canada, various States, and Europe. I recently
went skiing in Switzerland and it was great! It was my first time skiing
because when I was growing up in Canada my mother was always too worried
that I would break my leg were she to allow me to ski. Now I enjoyed myself
so much that I have promised myself that I will go skiing every year until
I die!
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