Dr. Emilie J. Siochi won the 2015 Oustanding Technical Contribution Award. She is a senior materials scientist at NASA Langley Research Center.

Dr. Siochi began her NASA career as a contractor providing materials characterization support for polymer chemists. Next was an assignment as head of a Biomimetics Planning Team tasked with determining if NASA should invest in bioinspired technologies.

She now leads a team of researchers, including chemists, mechanical engineers, and materials scientists. One of the team’s goals is to develop the next generation of 3D printers using carbon nanotube composites.

Over two years, this team has developed processes and hardware for the printing of carbon nanotube reinforced engineering polymers. The development will result in the capability to support future NASA missions.

Dr. Siochi is revolutionizing materials used for aerospace applications. She focuses her research and contributions on structural nanomaterials, bio-inspired materials, self-healing materials, anti-fouling engineered surfaces and energy harvesting. For the past 15 years, she has been heavily involved in nanomaterials research and energy harvesting. She now has 6 patents and 31 patent applications in this field.

Siochi has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She earned both her master's degree and a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering Science from Virginia Tech.