Auburn ISE alumna helps shape NASA’s return to the moon

Mallory James, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, is helping advance America’s return to the moon through the Artemis program. 

James earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from Auburn University in 2013. Originally a pre-chemical engineering student, she discovered early in her academic career that industrial and systems engineering aligned more closely with her interests.

“I realized after my first year of classes that I really enjoy math a lot more than science,” James said. “I didn’t know much about industrial and systems engineering when I switched, aside from the fact that the curriculum included more statistics and a greater emphasis on the role of humans in a system, which really piqued my interests and inspired the change.”

James joined NASA in 2021, interviewing for her position just one day before the birth of her daughter, Leanna.

“She’s now 4 years old and a big fan of rockets and space,” James said. “It’s handy that I get to use her age as a measure of how long I’ve been working here, which will be neat to tell her when we get back to the moon that mommy’s been working on it almost her whole life.”

Before arriving at NASA, James gained more than a decade of experience in production and systems engineering roles with the U.S. Navy and the Army’s defense acquisition community, beginning as a co-op student in 2010.

“I held a variety of different production and systems engineering roles, and those experiences were invaluable toward my professional and technical growth,” she said. “Without them, I’m not sure I would’ve landed my childhood dream job here at NASA.”

James began her NASA career in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall, where she worked on additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing. In that role, she supported multiple NASA flight programs by helping ensure additively manufactured spaceflight hardware met the agency’s qualification and certification standards for flight safety.

Her team also contributed to the development of new materials and additive processes designed to support advanced rocket propulsion technologies and in-space manufacturing applications.

In summer 2024, James transitioned into Marshall’s Partnerships and Opportunities Development Office, which serves as the primary entry point for external collaborators.

“In my new role, I help formulate and expand partnerships with industry, academic and other government partners to help meet NASA’s exploration goals, particularly in advanced manufacturing and lunar surface systems,” James said. “Our return to the moon will require so much more than just NASA to succeed.”

James emphasized that collaboration plays a much larger role in Artemis than it did during the Apollo era.

“Industry and academic partnerships are going to be critical to our success this time,” she said. “Now it’s all hands on deck so that we can do more with less, driving efficiency through partnerships.”

One of those partnerships is with the Auburn University Applied Research Institute in Huntsville. The teams are studying metal additive manufacturing systems to evaluate how four-laser processing compares to single-laser processing in terms of microstructure and material properties.

“This project will help inform the future of NASA’s additive manufacturing engineering standards as these technologies continue to evolve and are increasingly leveraged in the Artemis program,” James said.

Reflecting on her time at Auburn, James encourages current engineering students to fully embrace their learning opportunities.

“I’d encourage students to find their area in STEM that inspires them and be a sponge,” James said. “If you focus on the joy of learning, everything else will likely fall right into place.”