Kathryn Chapman

Center: NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

Division: Aviation Systems Division

Branch: Aerospace Simulation Research and Development Branch

Professional Biography

Kathryn Chapman is a research aerospace engineer supporting air traffic management research at Ames. Her work has focused on enabling autonomy in traffic management, modernizing wildland firefighting, and improving data management and metrics-based performance processes for simulation and flight tests. At NASA she has been a strong proponent of inter-agency and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Before joining NASA she worked as a technician at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on the ATLAS experiment and as an aerospace engineer in industry developing operating software to enable multi-vehicle autonomy in space systems.

Kathryn has received the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal (2023) for her contributions to the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) and High-Density Vertiplex (HDV) projects, as well as a Group Achievement Award (2022) as part of the HDV Advanced Onboard Autonomy Flight Team. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics along with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Mathematics from the University of Chicago where she conducted undergraduate research in the field of exoplanet dynamics. 

While not at work she can often be found in the mountains hiking, climbing, and skiing.