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You\u2019d think a NASA aerospace engineer who spends her days inside a giant dome researching how to make plane engines quieter and spacecraft systems more efficient would have a pretty booked schedule. Still, advocacy and mentoring, especially for women and girls in STEM, is something Danielle Koch always tries to say yes to.<\/p>\n
For decades, Koch has tutored students, volunteered as a mentor for engineering challenges, and engaged Pre-K through Ph.D. classes with stories from her career at NASA\u2019s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Koch also works to recruit women and others from underrepresented groups to the field and find ways to remove barriers to their advancement.<\/p>\n
For her efforts, Koch was recently recognized by the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio as a 2024 Woman of Distinction. The award, presented to Koch during a ceremony on May 16, celebrates women whose leadership contributes to the community, providing girls with positive role models. Koch says that diverse people and programs have similarly shaped her own career path.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of this is anything I\u2019ve done myself; there are huge groups of people who are making change and making things better for all of us,\u201d Koch said. \u201cEvery story I tell about me being a woman at NASA is really a story about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Koch began her career as a test engineer at NASA Glenn in 1990 as the only woman in her work group. While there were women around her, Koch says she did not see many senior-level female engineers or scientists \u201cworking ahead of her.\u201d With determination and the \u201crock-solid\u201d support of colleagues, family, and friends, Koch forged ahead, becoming a research aerospace engineer in NASA Glenn\u2019s Acoustics Branch in 1998.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s somebody that goes above and beyond almost all of the time, while using her knowledge and career to bring others up to her level,\u201d said John Lucero, Koch\u2019s supervisor and the chief of the Acoustics Branch at NASA Glenn.<\/p>\n
Koch realized the landscape around her was evolving in 2016 when she sat down in one of NASA Glenn\u2019s biggest conference rooms for the center\u2019s annual Women Ignite workshop. It was the first time she\u2019d seen the space entirely filled with women.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was striking,\u201d Koch said. \u201cLearning from each other and being visible to each other, it\u2019s so huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koch points to insights gleaned from these workshops \u2014 which are focused on networking, skill-building, and empowerment \u2014 as propelling her forward, along with the center\u2019s Women in STEM Leadership Development Program, launched to help the women of NASA Glenn connect and grow as leaders.<\/p>\n
Koch also spotlights the value of the Women at Glenn employee resource group, which organizes events and panels, shares job and volunteer opportunities, and provides a platform for addressing issues in the workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe employee resource group offers a great sense of community for women at the center,\u201d said Women at Glenn co-chair and aerospace engineer Christine Pastor-Barsi. \u201cWhen you feel like you\u2019re unique, it\u2019s good to know that there are others out there like you, even if you don\u2019t always see them in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koch says she\u2019ll continue working as a mentor in the community and advocating for the diverse range of people who choose to take the leap into the STEM fields.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to be the only one that\u2019s visibly different in a room; it changes the way you communicate, the way you\u2019re perceived,\u201d Koch said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to reach out to people who are different from us and invite them to consider engineering as a career. We all benefit when we work with someone who\u2019s different from ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n