Director of research and technology, NASA Glenn Research Center
By CHUCK SODER
4:30 am, July 23, 2012
Jih-Fen Lei probably wouldn't have ended up in charge of research and development at NASA Glenn Research Center had she pursued her first career choice: professional dancing.
That idea didn't fly with her father.
“He said, "Nope. You can dance as a hobby, but not as a career,'” Dr. Lei said with a smile.
That, however, was the only limit that her parents or teachers set for her as she was growing up in Taiwan. Hence, she never felt out of place in laboratories or meetings full of men.
“I never see myself as a woman. I just see myself as a person,” she said.
As director of research and technology at NASA Glenn, Dr. Lei oversees about 460 NASA Glenn employees and another 260 private contractors who conduct microgravity research, design power equipment, develop new communication technologies — you name it.
One of Dr. Lei's goals since being named director in 2006 is to get all those scientists and engineers to do more work together, even if their work seems unrelated at first glance.
In January 2011, she started the innovation and creativity working group. For instance, in April, scientists and engineers from across NASA Glenn got together for a two-day workshop during which they discussed technologies that could make it possible for aircraft to rely more on electricity and less on traditional fuels.
Now the group is starting to plan activities that could get the center's nontechnical staff to look at topics such as diversity in a new light, Dr. Lei said.
She also started a series of innovation forums, during which NASA Glenn's technical employees can talk about projects they're working on and seek input on how to solve problems.
“You don't say, "That's impossible.' You say, "What's possible?'” she said.
Dr. Lei spent 10 years doing research before becoming an administrator. She first began working with the federal agency as a private contractor in 1989. At the time, NASA was working with an aerospace company that wanted a sensor that could withstand temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Dr. Lei — who at the time was working toward a Ph.D. in material science and engineering from Northwestern University — spent the next 10 years designing a sensor that could achieve that goal without sacrificing performance. The company adopted the technology.
“It's just very satisfying from the university work all the way to people now using it in the application,” said Dr. Lei, who has published roughly 100 articles in technical publications and earned three R&D 100 awards, which R&D magazine gives out to recognize breakthrough innovations.
Former NASA Glenn director Woodrow Whitlow Jr. appointed Dr. Lei to her position, which he once held. He doesn't regret the choice. She is a technical expert who has both passion and compassion, said Dr. Whitlow, who today is associate administrator for Mission Support at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
She's also an unselfish leader, Dr. Whitlow said. He described how she once wanted him to visit one of NASA Glenn's labs so she could show off how her colleagues were using “laser tweezers” to manipulate individual atoms.
“She was more interested in exposing her people to me as opposed to just wanting face time,” he said.
Dr. Lei, whose husband, Jun, is an engineer at NASA Glenn, speaks to children a few times a year about NASA and what she does for a living. They could do the same thing, she tells them. After all, when she arrived in the United States to attend Northwestern, she didn't speak much English.
“The message is always, "If I can do what I do, anyone can do it,'” she said.
That idea didn't fly with her father.
“He said, "Nope. You can dance as a hobby, but not as a career,'” Dr. Lei said with a smile.
That, however, was the only limit that her parents or teachers set for her as she was growing up in Taiwan. Hence, she never felt out of place in laboratories or meetings full of men.
“I never see myself as a woman. I just see myself as a person,” she said.
As director of research and technology at NASA Glenn, Dr. Lei oversees about 460 NASA Glenn employees and another 260 private contractors who conduct microgravity research, design power equipment, develop new communication technologies — you name it.
One of Dr. Lei's goals since being named director in 2006 is to get all those scientists and engineers to do more work together, even if their work seems unrelated at first glance.
In January 2011, she started the innovation and creativity working group. For instance, in April, scientists and engineers from across NASA Glenn got together for a two-day workshop during which they discussed technologies that could make it possible for aircraft to rely more on electricity and less on traditional fuels.
Now the group is starting to plan activities that could get the center's nontechnical staff to look at topics such as diversity in a new light, Dr. Lei said.
She also started a series of innovation forums, during which NASA Glenn's technical employees can talk about projects they're working on and seek input on how to solve problems.
“You don't say, "That's impossible.' You say, "What's possible?'” she said.
Dr. Lei spent 10 years doing research before becoming an administrator. She first began working with the federal agency as a private contractor in 1989. At the time, NASA was working with an aerospace company that wanted a sensor that could withstand temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Dr. Lei — who at the time was working toward a Ph.D. in material science and engineering from Northwestern University — spent the next 10 years designing a sensor that could achieve that goal without sacrificing performance. The company adopted the technology.
“It's just very satisfying from the university work all the way to people now using it in the application,” said Dr. Lei, who has published roughly 100 articles in technical publications and earned three R&D 100 awards, which R&D magazine gives out to recognize breakthrough innovations.
Former NASA Glenn director Woodrow Whitlow Jr. appointed Dr. Lei to her position, which he once held. He doesn't regret the choice. She is a technical expert who has both passion and compassion, said Dr. Whitlow, who today is associate administrator for Mission Support at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
She's also an unselfish leader, Dr. Whitlow said. He described how she once wanted him to visit one of NASA Glenn's labs so she could show off how her colleagues were using “laser tweezers” to manipulate individual atoms.
“She was more interested in exposing her people to me as opposed to just wanting face time,” he said.
Dr. Lei, whose husband, Jun, is an engineer at NASA Glenn, speaks to children a few times a year about NASA and what she does for a living. They could do the same thing, she tells them. After all, when she arrived in the United States to attend Northwestern, she didn't speak much English.
“The message is always, "If I can do what I do, anyone can do it,'” she said.
