Nia M. Jetter won the Technical Innovation Award at the 2018 Women of Color STEM Conference. Throughout her career, she has supported 15 satellite missions from the Boeing El Segundo Mission Control Center.

Nia is an aerospace engineer. As one of two black females in technical fellowship, which makes up the top 2 percent of Boeing's technical community, Nia is a leading expert in autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI).

"Nia's expertise has helped pave the way for autonomy as a key technology for The Boeing Company, said one executive. "Nia plays an integral role in growing this expertise in young engineers and increasing our knowledge to ensure we remain competitive."

Click here to read more about how Nia Jetter uses more than math to underpin AI and data science.

Nia's own career started in 2002 as a controls analyst for Raytheon before joining Boeing's Satellite Development Center in 2004, where she progressed to the role of Senior Autonomy Analyst and Architect.

In 2013, her expertise led to her assignment as the Space representative in Boeing Autonomy Technology planning, where she maintains the company’s Spacecraft Autonomy Roadmap. She is also the co-founder of the Autonomy Community of Practice, a powerful knowledge-sharing network.

"When I was in 5th grade, my white male math teacher told me I was stupid," Nia told Women of Color magazine. "Stupid was the exact word he used," she recalled. "When I was in 6th grade my first black female math teacher, Mrs. Petersen, told me she thought I was good at math, and she challenged and encouraged me. Eleven years later I graduated from MIT with a degree in mathematics with computer science. Now, I feel like I 'speak math' better than I speak English. I am forever grateful to Mrs. Petersen, my parents, and everyone who told me I could do anything if I put my mind to it."

Save the date for the 2020 Women of Color STEM Conference in Detroit. Click here for more information.