Deborah Tomek
Deborah (Debi) Tomek has over two decades of research and technical management experience with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During this time Ms. Tomek has served as researcher, principal investigator, and senior executive of numerous projects and programs. Her early research in dynamic stability was instrumental in the design of numerous operational space vehicles including the Artemis Orion crew vehicle and the Launch Abort System. This early work led to her years with the Space Shuttle Program where she led the teams responsible for acquiring calibrated thermal imagery of the heatshield during Orbiter re-entry. This data became instrumental in future spacecraft designs. After four years in the NASA Administrator’s Suite leading agency-wide technical capability assessments, she returned to NASA Langley as Chief of Staff before becoming Deputy Director, then Director, of their Space Technology and Exploration Directorate responsible for all space exploration and technology programs at Langley. Ms. Tomek shepherded grassroots activities and then pre-formulation of a government-wide coordination effort around development of In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) technologies. This led to her current appointment as NASA Senior Advisor at NASA Headquarters working technology, strategy, and policy in support of ISAM, Space Infrastructure and Logistics, as well as Space Sustainability. Ms. Tomek holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University and continued her studies at Georgia Institute of Technology and George Washington University obtaining a Master’s degree in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering.