IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 32

To do this, they sent up a camera on a
NASA sounding rocket. Sounding rocket
flights are a total of about 20 min from
launch to landing, and they take data for
the five minutes the rocket is above the
Earth's atmosphere. The experiment,
Danowski explains, needs to work before
it crashes back down (it does have a parachute). Danowski says she's been involved
in the design, construction, and testing of
the instrument and even got to run the
experiment while it was in space.
"We launched November 21st (2012)
at 4 a.m. over the desert in White Sands,
New Mexico, and it was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced-the

leading up to launch in the lab, all day,
every day, and then spent a couple of
months traveling. She says that there are
always disagreements when you are part
of a team under stress. But no matter
what, she adds that the team members
were all there for the same reason-they
wanted to see the project succeed. They
worked together to get things done,
devising solutions to their problems and
seeing the project to success. "Thankfully the team I worked with was full of
amazingly intelligent and very committed people, and working with them was
another one of the major benefits of this
project," she says.

GWISE members, back row: Emily Welsch, Allison Squires, Elise Heiss, Michelle
Stolzoff, and Christine Bassem. Front row: Reimi Yonekura, Meredith Danowski,
Lauren Mangano, Liz Canovic, and Danna Gurari.

exhilaration of putting something you
built into space? It's unparalleled," Danowski says. "I was so proud, so excited,
and so sleep deprived, I think I danced
and cheered for 24 hours straight after
the launch. It really was an amazing
opportunity and a huge learning experience. It's undoubtedly the coolest thing
I've ever done in my entire life."
Being the only woman on her
IMAGER team isn't easy, Danowski says.
"It can be isolating, but it was worth it."
The hours put in to launch a rocket can
be long, and Danowski spent a lot of time

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"I would absolutely encourage other
women to get involved in flying space
hardware any chance they get," Danowski
says. "It's a remarkable and humbling
experience to be a part of that small group
of people who puts things into space."
Oftentimes, Danowski says, it's extremely
time intensive, but in the end, it's well
worth it. "Know that rockets, satellites,
and balloons tend to operate on nonlinear calendars, where time flows in ways
contrary to what you've ever thought
possible. Be flexible, and be willing to let
your brain soak in as much information

DECEMBER 2013

as possible." By participating in a project
like this, Danowski says that you gain a
breadth of skills that opens doors as well
as an appreciation for how both people
and instruments can work together to
make something amazing happen.

Grounded Times and GWISE
So what does Danowski do when she's not
launching sounding rockets into space?
"When I'm not building rocket payloads,
my hobbies still center around my love
for building things and teaching," she
says. Danowski works part time at the
Museum of Science in Boston where she
teaches Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts when
they stay overnight at the museum. On
a more personal note, Danowski loves to
invite friends over to sample her cooking
and baking. She also loves music, attending concerts, having her own personal
dance parties in the office when no one
is around, and playing guitar, which she
has practiced for 14 years.
As past president of Graduate Women
in Science and Engineering (GWISE)
at Boston University, Danowski worked
with the group to connect women in all
the science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at
Boston University and to help give them
a support network to get through grad
school and on to successful careers. "We
do this by running professional development workshops (resume writing, negotiation skills), social events (laser tag, apple
picking), and outreach events (including
a science club for girls at a local afterschool program), Danowski explains. "We
also work with the university on policies
related to graduate students and women
at the university."
GWISE is relatively new, and they
elected their first executive board just
four years ago. In those four years, Danowski says the organization has grown to
host "tons" of events every month, all put
on by graduate students who volunteer to
serve their community. "My fellow GWISE
members never cease to amaze me with
their talent, skill, or dedication," Danowski

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013