Ashley Kowalski Email and Phone Number

Kowalski is a project leader in The Aerospace Corporation’s International Partnerships Department (Space Systems Group), where she works with, represents, and provides technical support to the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command International Affairs (SSC/IA) office. Her responsibilities include developing collaborative opportunities, deepening interoperability, scalability, and resiliency, and integrating space enterprise assets with our allied partners to develop a coalition space enterprise through international space partnerships.

Kowalski served as the crew engineer for the first-ever, all-Aerospace analog crew sent to the Mars Desert Research Station (Crew #269), where the crew tested new technologies and methodologies that could help shape the future of human space exploration.

Kowalski served as the flight engineer for SIRIUS-21 (Scientific International Research In a Unique terrestrial Station), an eight-month, long-duration spaceflight analog mission held in Moscow, Russia. This was a collaborative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center’s (JSC’s) Human Research Program and Russia’s Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) that studied the effects of isolation and confinement on human psychology, physiology, crew dynamics, crew autonomy, and the general behavioral health of the crewmembers.

- Represent the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in developing collaboration opportunities for current and future capabilities with international, industry, and interagency partners, with a regional focus on the Americas, Europe, & Africa- Interface daily with both U.S. and international civil and commercial industry partners to assist with and provide advice on space systems, acquisitions, and program architecture development.

Strategic and Global Awareness DirectorateInternational Space Systems Analyst

- Participate in a range of architecture-level design activities to support customers in identifying and developing architectures that will drive new systems of systems (mission management, project planning and analysis, resiliency analysis, etc.).- Support end-to-end modeling activities and trade analyses, specifically for communications and ground architectures, using a variety of modeling tools.- Project Lead for Aerospace’s Independent Review Team efforts supporting NASA Space Launch System (SLS), which involves leading a multi-disciplinary team of subject matter experts (supports SRR, CDR, PDR efforts).- Identify and capture NASA business development opportunities, manage the customer account, communicate directly with customers, assist with business proposals.- Research various technology topics, prepare reports, develop briefings, and present recommendations to customers and Aerospace management

As part of the Alfa Fellowship Program, all fellows needed to find and complete a work placement in Moscow within their field. My professional assignment portion of the program was completed with Sputnix, which is part of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. During my work assignment, I conducted an analysis of the European aerospace market, comparedsoftware products for CubeSat space mission analysis, researched attitude determination andcontrol system (ADCS) test bed products, assisted with Sputnix’s satellite education departmentefforts, researched composite materials, and learned about satellite testing. This placement allowedme to gain valuable international work experience in Russia within the field of aerospaceengineering and to expand my knowledge of international space and technology policy andmarkets.

The Alfa Fellowship Program is a distinguished international initiative run by Cultural Vistas, an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of State as an exchange visitor program sponsor, in order to provide 17 accomplished young Americans, Britons, and Germans the opportunity to receive intensive language training, attend professional seminars, and participate in high-level professional development assignments in Russia. The purpose of the program is to educate and to develop a greater intercultural understanding between the two nations, while simultaneously providing valuable international work experience.

I was an adjunct professor at Towson University. I taught basic physics concepts to a class of 80 students ranging from freshman to seniors. I prepared lectures, educational materials, exam, and conducted consultations/office hours with students.

I spent this past year in Germany as a young U.S. Ambassador on a fellowship sponsored by both the U.S. Department of State and the German Bundestag. The fellowship allows 75 young professionals from the USA and 75 young professionals from Germany to participate in a cultural exchange. This full year abroad consisted of 2 months of intensive German language training, 1 semester at a German University, and a 5-month internship in my career fieldLiving and working in a foreign country while also representing your native country taught me a great deal about communication and professionalism. Additionally, it forced you to be adaptable since I was often placed in new and unexpected situations.

During my time with Blohm + Voss Oil Tools, I was exposed to the Production Management side of engineering. While all of my previous internships focused mainly on research and experimentation, my role at Blohm + Voss Oil Tools showed me how research and development works together with the production, after sales, and service engineering departments. As an intern, I drafted long-term production schedules and project plans, served as the technical link between the service engineers and customers, ensured the company was following current American Petroleum Institute standards and procedures, and finally I was involved actively in the Oil Tool Surveys/Inspections and Service Reports.I found this job particularly exciting for me because I was working in an international environment where I could use my English, German, and Polish skills. For example, on a daily basis, I used English when speaking with customers and foreign companies on the phone, I used my German skills with my coworkers within the company, and when speaking with many of the machinists and technicians on the production floor, I spoke Polish.

Spray generation due to the break-up of bow waves is a complex, multiphase flow problem. Generating accurate numerical models of this phenomenon is often difficult and impractical because of the large-scales involved. Therefore, it is necessary to experimentally model bow wave spray generation by investigating the break-up of an inclined and wall-bounded turbulent liquid sheet. Such experimental measurements can be used in numerical models as input and validation data in order to accurately predict and analyze bow spray and droplet formation. As an intern at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, I was in charge of running the experiments for this project. The experimental setup involved pumping water through a nozzle designed to create a liquid sheet that flowed along the underside of an inclined acrylic flat plate. In this setup, the sheet surface roughened and eventually generated ligaments that broke off into droplets. The liquid sheet generated substantial spray as it separated from the flat plate, as well. Thus, using high-speed cameras, characteristics of the liquid sheet and resulting droplet distributions were measured.We published a joint conference paper at the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference.T.C. Fu, P.M. Bardet, E.E. Hackett, and A.Kowalski. “On the Break-up of a Turbulent Liquid Wall Sheet.” The 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference. December 3-7, 2013. Launceston, Australia.

While working on my graduate degree, I worked as a graduate teaching assistant for an undergraduate Introduction to Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering course. This position includes running lab sections for the students, holding office hours, and providing the students with any additional help they may need with the course.

I have experience giving tours and live demonstrations at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, a museum that has over 9,000,000 visitors annually. I have worked there for four years as an Explainer, a position which required me to give scientific demonstrations on aviation, space exploration, forces of flight, and astronomy for museum visitors, while also encouraging informal learning by assisting visitors with hands-on activities in the How Things Fly gallery, an interactive gallery that explores the principles of flight. I love speaking in front of audiences, I have the personality to actively engage visitors, and I love interacting with people from all over the world.

This is a selective program sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Oakland University. Only 6 students total were chosen to participate in this 8-week long program in Beijing, China. At the Beijing Jiaotong University, we conducted independent research on fluid transport in fuel cells. Water management in fuel cells is necessary in order to avoid cathode flooding. Thus, we modeled vapor transport across a gas diffusion layer & studied the effects of humidity on water accumulation in this layer.

As an intern with the Propulsion and Power Division at the Naval Air Station, I researched aircraft Flight Performance Modules, aircraft simulator investment opportunities, fuel types, engines, and fuel critical properties in order to develop correlations and increase platform fuel efficiency. Additionally, I submitted a redesign of a particle counting system section that was used to determine fuel quality.