Joycelyn Harrison (born January 22, 1964) is an African-American engineer who is Associate Dean of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in A ...

. In 2006 she was awarded the

NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal The NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal is awarded to US government employees only for notably outstanding leadership which affects technical or administrative programs of NASA. The leadership award may be given for an act of leadership, for sustain ...

. Her research considers the development of novel

piezoelectric Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress. The word ' ...

materials.

Early life and education

Harrison was born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, it also extends into Marion County, Tennessee, Marion County on its west ...

. Her first job was washing people's hair in her mother's beauty salon. She attended North Chattanooga Junior High School where her teacher, Stu Silvernman, encouraged her to pursue a career in chemical engineering. She joined

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman r ...

as an undergraduate student, where she majored in chemical engineering. After earning her bachelor's degree, Harrison moved to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

Research and career

In 1994, Harrison joined the NASA Langley Research Center as a research engineer. At Langley she worked alongside Terry L. St. Clair on

materials and electro-active polymers. By 1999 Harrison had been promoted to the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch. Harrison worked on Thin-Layer Composite-Unimorph Piezoelectric Driver and Sensor, ''THUNDER'', a novel device that can detect changes in responsive smart materials. In particular, THUNDER could be applied to electronic systems, optical components and anywhere that needs noise or jitter suppression. ''THUNDER'' was awarded the Advantage Business Media R&D 100 Award. THUNDER was part of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

morphing programme, which looked to allow remote shaping of the surface of satellites. In 2009 Harrison joined the

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, p ...

, where she worked on the low density materials programme. She was eventually made Director of the Budget Plans, and oversaw the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

$500 million research portfolio. Harrison joined

as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering.

Awards and honours

* 1998 National Women in Color Technology All-Star Award * 2000 Exceptional Achievement Medal * 2006

* 2020 Dominion Energy and Library of Virginia "Strong Men and Women" in Virginia History honouree

Select publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Joycelyn 1964 births Living people African-American engineers African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics Spelman College alumni Georgia Tech alumni NASA people Kent State University faculty