Deborah Amato GSFC Deputy Chief Technologist NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

During her 2008 Maryland Science Bowl PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Amato encouraged students to pursue undergraduate studies in engineering. By focusing on developing critical thinking and analytical skills, not only is engineering a good career, it provides a solid foundation for other careers such as law (e.g. patent law), medicine, and business.

Deborah Amato serves as the Deputy Chief Technologist for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). She helps manage the Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program, which invests in advanced technologies for future missions enabling breakthrough scientific discoveries. Deborah began working at GSFC in 1992 as a student in the Space Grant internship program and then became a co-op student. She began her aerospace engineering career as a mechanical engineer, doing mechanical design, thermal and structural analysis, and systems engineering for small scientific instruments. Her activities have also included integration and testing, instrument management, and collaborative engineering. Before becoming the Deputy Chief Technologist, Deborah worked as the Senior Systems Engineer in Goddard's Integrated Design Center where early mission and instrument concept studies are conducted. Over the years she has supported many projects including Constellation-X, the James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module (JWST ISIM), the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), and the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE). She received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994 and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1998.