40th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster - Remember, Learn, and Grow with NASA's Renee Reynolds

#WIE #TEMS #NASA #Challenger #SpaceShuttle

Join the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Women in Engineering (WiE) and Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) for a special on-line commemorative event of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

January 28, 2026, 12 to 1 p.m. ET.

On the 40th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which occurred January 28, 1986, join NASA engineer Renee Reynolds for a reflective and technical discussion of what went wrong, how NASA investigates and learns from failure, and how today’s engineering practices are designed to prevent such tragedies in future missions. This event has no charge and there will be time for Q&A. The event is limited to 100 registrations.

Renee Reynolds is the Quantum Technology Champion at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), where she leads the strategic research, development, infusion, and application of quantum technologies for future NASA missions in Planetary and Earth Science, Astrophysics, Heliophysics, and space communications and navigation.

Ms. Reynolds has held multiple technical leadership roles within NASA. In 2013, after completion of an interagency detail with the Department of Energy through the President’s Management Council’s Interagency Rotation Program, Ms. Reynolds joined the Instrument Electronics Development Branch as Associate Branch Head. Ms. Reynolds managed a diverse technology portfolio which included multi-channel ASIC development, Digital Signal Processing, and analog front-end and instrument readout electronics technology maturation efforts from all GSFC’s science lines of business.

In 2021, Ms. Reynolds was selected as the Assistant Chief for Technology for the Instrument Systems and Technology Division, where she managed over 50 technology developments within GSFC’s internal research and development program, externally funded Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES), and other technology maturation programs.

Over Ms. Reynolds’ tenure with NASA, she has designed and tested flight electronics hardware for the following NASA missions:  Swift Burst Alert Telescope, Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Hubble Space Telescope – Servicing Mission 4, Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), and Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) Mass Spectrometer.

Ms. Reynolds received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park in 2000, and her Master of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2007.    

Ms. Reynolds is passionate about inspiring the next generation. She supports the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the University of Maryland’s Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering.