May 23, 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Thomas Auditorium 003

Moderator:

David McComas
Professor of Astrophysical Sciences

Panelists:

Nina Arcot ’20 *22
Engineer (Future Technical Leaders Program), Northrop Grumman

Clifton “Cliff” Jackson Jr. ’70
Senior Systems Engineer, KBR Space Engineering Division, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Adam Burrows ’75
Professor of Astrophysical Sciences

Sara Harris ’05
Orion Orbit Guidance and Targeting Subsystem Manager, NASA Johnson Space Center

Sponsored by the Alumni Association of Princeton University

Participants:

David McComas
David McComas’ research and service span national and international science communities in space and plasma physics. In addition to serving on the faculty of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences, he is participating faculty in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. McComas served as vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from 2016 to 2024, sitting on the University President’s Cabinet and other key committees. He has held leadership roles with the National Academies Space Studies Board and the NASA Advisory Council. A fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, McComas has received numerous honors, including the National Academy of Sciences’ Arctowski Medal (2023), the European Geosciences Union’s Hannes Alfvén Medal (2022) and NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal (2015).

Nina Arcot ’20 *22
Nina Arcot is an aerospace engineer in Northrop Grumman’s Future Technical Leaders (FTL) program, currently exploring digital transformation in the space sector. In her previous rotation, she led internal research and development efforts related to additive manufacturing, collaborative automation and manufacturing simulations. Prior to FTL, Arcot was a mission assurance lead for Northrop Grumman’s innovative ESPASat-L product line of small satellites, focusing on work center process improvements and quality metrics to address technical and schedule risks. Arcot completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at Princeton, with a focus on materials science. She aims to combine her interests in manufacturing, materials science and spacecraft engineering to develop technologies that increase access to space and improve life on Earth. Outside of work, she is passionate about STEM outreach and volunteers with the Society of Women Engineers and the Brooke Owens Fellowship.

Clifton “Cliff” Jackson Jr. ’70
Cliff Jackson began working at the Goddard Space Flight Center in 1970 and has yet to leave! His interests center on unmanned science missions that provide datasets that enable conflicting scientific theories to be refined and improved, advancing our understanding of the evolution of the universe. Two of his notable projects include the Princeton-inspired Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) (1994-2009; launched June 30, 2001) and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) (2005-present, launching no later than Nov. 9, 2027). Both were designed to operate orbiting the Sun-Earth L2 Libration point, a position about 1 million miles anti-Sun from the Earth. Jackson currently provides thermal systems support for the RST. He received a BSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton, and an M.S. in heat transfer from the University of Maryland.

Adam Burrows ’75
Adam Burrows’ primary research interests are supernova theory, exoplanet and brown dwarf theory, planetary atmospheres, computational astrophysics and nuclear astrophysics. He has written numerous fundamental and influential papers and reviews on these subjects during the last 35 years or so, collaborated with more than 250 co-authors on more than 400 papers and given more than 400 invited talks and colloquia addresses. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the American Physical Society, the 2010 Beatrice M. Tinsley Centennial Professor, a winner of the Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize and a former Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. Burrows received his undergraduate degree in physics from Princeton and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sara Harris ’05
Sara Harris has worked as a guidance, navigation and controls engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center since 2012. Her current roles include managing the orbit phase guidance and targeting subsystem for Orion, the spacecraft that astronauts will take to the moon, and leading the Orion Guidance and Targeting Working Group, a multiorganizational forum for communicating and addressing any issues within this domain. Harris is also the lead developer for Orion’s autonomous onboard trajectory targeting algorithm, which successfully flew on the Artemis I mission in 2022. She was awarded NASA’s Early Career Achievement Medal in 2019 for her work leading the Guidance and Targeting team through critical design reviews for Artemis I and II. After majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton, Harris earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.