Dr. Debra L. Emmons joined Aerospace in 2003 as a project engineer and has held positions of increasing responsibility from technical project execution to business development. Emmons currently serves as vice president and chief technology officer at The Aerospace Corporation. In this role, Emmons is responsible for providing vital leadership for the company’s growing prototyping efforts through her supervision of Aerospace’s Experiments Lab. She also oversees iLab (Aerospace’s innovation laboratory, where staff collaborate in a creative space to develop ideas into game-changing technologies); the Engineering, Science & Technology Hubs; and the Tech Fellows program.

An experienced aerospace leader with technical, management, and industry experience in the acquisition and development of advanced technology space systems, Emmons has more than 20 years of experience in systems engineering, technical and risk analysis, program management, and communications systems. Emmons was a principal contributor on several key high-level studies and assessments that have informed strategic decision-making within the government.

Emmons earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University. She was awarded an MBA from Imperial College Management School, London, UK, and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the George Washington University. Emmons was awarded two Aerospace President’s Awards and named Aerospace Woman of the Year (2007). In 2006, she was honored for her contributions to the NASA Hubble Space Telescope Analysis of Alternatives. In 2010, she was honored for providing technical studies critical to the Augustine Commission’s recommendations for future U.S. human spaceflight.