{"id":56814,"date":"2026-06-12T11:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/?p=56814"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:25:31","slug":"one-cool-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/changemakers\/one-cool-job\/","title":{"rendered":"One Cool Job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In November 2023, NASA sent a new laser communication device to the International Space Station. The system, called the Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), improves data transmission between the space station and Earth.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making it possible was Emily Maheras, a thermal engineer for NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Temperatures in space, unfiltered by our atmosphere, can be incredibly cold when in shadow, or intolerably hot in direct line of the sun. Maheras\u2019 job is to protect devices from these harsh conditions. In 2024, she won an Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal from NASA for her work developing active and passive cooling designs for ILLUMA-T.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt had to stay in a range, from negative 20 to 50 degrees Celsius,\u201d says Maheras, an employee of NASA contractor Vertex Aerospace. \u201cFor this application, we had a cooling loop, so it circulated fluid throughout the spacecraft and kept things from getting too hot or too cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Maheras\u2019 senior year, she got an internship at NASA. An initial mechanical design assignment didn\u2019t excite her, though, so she turned her attention to thermal engineering. \u201cIt feels like you\u2019re working on a puzzle, keeping things within temperature ranges,\u201d she says. \u201cIt clicked with my brain more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stayed at NASA while earning her master\u2019s degree through the Whiting School\u2019s Engineering for Professionals<\/a> programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cFor this application, we had a cooling loop, so it circulated fluid throughout the spacecraft and kept things from getting too hot or too cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Emily Maheras<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Learning how to spitball and problem-solve with a diverse group has served her well. She was the only thermal engineer on the ILLUMA-T assignment as it neared launch, she says, and had to work closely with mechanical engineers, structural engineers, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her new project, providing thermal protection for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, is already larger, with four thermal engineers on a team of about 100, and is expected to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The space telescope they\u2019re developing, set to launch in 2040 at the earliest, is larger than previous ones, possibly requiring entirely new cooling techniques. \u201cIn the past, some telescopes had a large sunshade,\u201d she says. \u201cWe may consider going down that route, but the shade would be much larger, the size of a football field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 KAREN NITKIN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illustration by Joel Kimmel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily Maheras, Engr \u201920, \u201923 (MS), a thermal engineer for NASA, helped make a new laser communication device a reality. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"issue":[105],"class_list":["post-56814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-changemakers","issue-spring-2026"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOne Cool Job - Johns Hopkins Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Emily Maheras, Engr \u201920, \u201923 (MS), a thermal engineer for NASA, helped make a new laser communication device a reality.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine\/changemakers\/one-cool-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Cool Job - 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