Dava Newman

Newman’s research expertise is in aerospace biomedical engineering, investigating human performance in varying gravity environments. Newman was the principal investigator on four spaceflight missions. The Space Shuttle Dynamic Load Sensors (DLS) experiment measured astronaut-induced disturbances of the microgravity environment on mission STS-62. The Enhanced Dynamic Load Sensors experiment flew on board the Mir Space Station from 1996–1998. Newman was a Co-Investigator on the Mental Workload and Performance Experiment (MWPE) that flew on STS-42 to measure astronaut mental workload and fine motor control in microgravity. She also developed the MICR0-G space flight experiment to provide a sensor suite and study human adaptation in extreme environments. She was the MIT Principal Investigator on the Gravity Loading Countermeasure Suit, or Skinsuit, which flew the International Space Station as an ESA technology demonstration from 2015 to 2017.

Select honors include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2017), Women in Aerospace Leadership Award (2017), and the Aerospace Medical Association’s Henry L. Taylor Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Aerospace Human Factors (2017). Her BioSuit spacesuit system has been exhibited at the Venice Biennial (2015), the American Museum of Natural History (2012), the Victoria and Albert and Museum, London (2012), the Paris City Museum of Science and Industry (2010), the London Museum of Science and Industry (2009), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2008). She was awarded Best Invention of 2007 by Time Magazine, named in 100 Extraordinary Women Engineers in 2004, and received the Women in Aerospace National Aerospace Educator Award (2001).

B Holschuh, D Newman, Morphing Compression Garments for Space Medicine and Extravehicular Activity Using Active Materials, Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance 87 (2), 84-92, 2016.

Newman, D.J., Wood, D., Roos, D., Pfotenhauer., S., Architecting complex international science, technology and innovation partnerships (CISTIPs): A study of four global MIT collaborations, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 104, March 2016, Pages 38–56.

Wood, D. and Newman, D. “The Innovation Landscape within a Large Government Agency: Promising Practices from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)”, 67th International Astronautical Congress, Guadalajara, Mexico, Sept. 2016.

In October 2014, Newman was nominated by President Barack Obama as Deputy Administrator of NASA, but the U.S. Senate returned the nomination to the President in December 2014 when the 113th Congress adjourned without having confirmed her for the position. Under Senate rules, in order for Newman to be confirmed, Obama needed to re-nominate her to the Senate of the 114th Congress, and he did so on January 8, 2015. Her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation was held March 25, 2015, and the Committee unanimously recommended approval by the full Senate. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 2015. She resigned the position upon the end of the Obama administration on January 20, 2017.

Melo, P., Silva, M., Martins, J., and Newman, D.J., “Technical Developments of Functional Electrical Stimulation to Correct Drop Foot: Sensing, Actuation and Control Strategies”, Journal of Clinical Biomechanics, 30(2):101-113, 2015.

Holschuh, B., and Newman, D. “Two-Spring Model for Active Compression Textiles with Integrated NiTi Coil Actuators,” Smart Mater. Struct. 24, 2015. Anderson, Y. Menguc, R. Wood, D. Newman, Development of the Polipo Pressure Sensing System for Dynamic Space-Suited Motion, IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 15(11):6229-6237, 2015.

P. L. Melo, M. T. Silva, J. M. Martins, D. J. Newman, A Microcontroller Platform for The Rapid Prototyping of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)-based Gait Neuroprostheses, Artif Organs, 39(5):E56-66, May 2015.

Newman, D.J., Canina, M. Trotti, G.L., “Revolutionary Design for Astronaut Exploration – Beyond the Bio-Suit”, CP880, Space Technology and Applications International Forum—STAIF-2007, Albuquerque, NM, February 11–15, 2007.

Stirling, L., Newman, D.J., Willcox, K., “Self-Rotations in Simulated Microgravity: Performance Effects of Strategy Training” Journal of Aviation, Space Environmental Medicine, vol. 80 no. 1, pp. 5–14, 2009.

Pfotenhauer, Sebastian M., et al. “Seeding Change through International University Partnerships: The MIT-Portugal Program as a Driver of Internationalization, Networking, and Innovation.” Higher Education Policy, 2012.

Waldie, J., Newman, D., “A Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit”, Acta Astronautica, 68(7-8):722-730, 2011.

Johnson, A.W., Hoffman, J.A., Newman, D.J., Mazarico, E.M., and Zuber, M.T., “An Integrated Traverse Planner and Analysis Tool for Future Planetary Exploration”, AIAA 2010-8829, SPACE 2010, Anaheim, CA, 2010.

Stirling, L., Willcox, K., Newman, D., “Development of a Computational Model for Astronaut Reorientation”, Journal of Biomechanics, Vol. 43, Issue 12, pp. 2309–2314, August 2010.

R. A. Opperman, J. M. Waldie, A. Natapoff, D. J. Newman, J. A. Jones, “Probability of Spacesuit-Induced Fingernail Trauma is associated with Hand Circumference,” J Aviat, Space Env Med, 81, 907-913, 2010.

Wagner, E.B., Granzella, N.P., Saito, N., Newman, D.J., Young, L.R., Bouxsein, M.L., “Partial weight Suspension: A Novel Murine Model for Investigation Adaptation to Reduce Musculoskeletal Loading”, J Applied Physiology, 109:350-357, 2010.

Ferguson, P. A., Krebs, C. P., Stirling, L. A., Newman, D. J., “Kinetic and Kinematic Sensing System for the MICRO-G /Adapt International Space Station Experiment”, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, June, 2006.

Jordan, N. C., Saleh, J. H., Newman, D. J., “The extravehicular mobility unit: A review of environment, requirements, and design changes in the US spacesuit”, Acta Astronautica, Volume 59, Issue 12, Pages 1135-1145, July 2006.

Saleh, J.H., Hastings, D.E., and D.J. Newman, “Weaving Time into System Architecture: Satellite Cost per Operational Day and Optimal Design Lifetime,” Acta Astronautica, 54:413-431, 2004.

Newman, D.J., Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, Introductory engineering textbook with accompanying interactive CD-ROM, McGraw-Hill, Inc., January 2002.

Dava J. Newman (born 1964) is a former Deputy Administrator of NASA,. Newman earned her Ph.D. in aerospace biomedical engineering, and Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering and technology and policy all from MIT, and her Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Newman is the Apollo Program Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member in Cambridge, MA. She is also a MacVicar Faculty Fellow (awarded for contributions to undergraduate education), former Director of the Technology and Policy Program at MIT (2003–2015), and has been the current Director of the MIT Portugal Program since 2011. As the Director of MIT’s Technology and Policy Program (TPP), she led the Institute’s largest multidisciplinary graduate research program, with over 1,200 alumni. She has been a faculty member in her home department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and MIT’s School of Engineering since 1993.