Since age 4, Susie Allen-Sierpinski ’05, ’07 MSA, has dreamed of being an astronaut.
Now, as a Gateway Deep Space Logistics (DSL) DSL-1 Mission integration engineer with NASA, Allen-Sierpinski is that much closer to reaching the stars.
“I did not think working on space toilets was going to be in my repertoire when I left Florida Tech,” Allen-Sierpinski laughs. “But here we are!”
Born and raised in Nottingham, England, Allen-Sierpinski’s passion for space was first sparked by a trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a family vacation to Florida.
She quickly became a self-proclaimed “space nerd,” and her parents encouraged her interest, sending her back to Kennedy Space Center for Space Camp Florida.
As the years went by, Allen-Sierpinski’s passion for space grew. So, when her family decided to move to the United States, it only made sense to relocate to the Space Coast.
That’s when she found Florida Tech.
“I was 16 when I enrolled at the university,” Allen-Sierpinski says. “Moving to a new country and being younger than most of my peers was challenging, but Florida Tech made the experience perfect with its small campus and class sizes.”
While a student, Allen-Sierpinski dove into the college experience and joined the women’s rowing team, which she helped clench the Sunshine State Conference Championship in 2001.
“The small community I gained from the women’s rowing team helped me learn that everyone has something to bring to the table as a group,” Allen-Sierpinski says. “That lesson has carried on with me throughout my career.”
After graduation, Allen-Sierpinski was ready to take off.
Throughout her illustrious career, she has held positions in the private industry with Boeing’s C-17 Propulsion Systems Division and United Space Alliance’s space shuttle program, and she worked on the Orion spacecraft before joining the government as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Office and on to the Naval Air Systems Command before landing at NASA.
In her current role as part of NASA’s Gateway Deep Space Logistics Project office, Allen-Sierpinski gives mission updates to the team working on the DSL-1 Mission as a part of the agency’s broader Artemis campaign.
“As an integration engineer, I get to touch a lot of different systems and work with a diverse group of engineers, contractors, business folks and lawyers,” Allen-Sierpinski says. “All the little things that we do contribute to the larger goal of having a space station around the moon.”
In 2012, Allen-Sierpinski won the Space Coast Distinguished New Woman Engineer Award, and she was inducted as an American Institute of Aeronautics Associate Fellow in January.
In the words of acting NASA administrator Janet Petro, Allen-Sierpinski’s message to fellow space nerds is to always “Embrace the challenge.
Q&A
FLORIDA TECH CONNECTION: ’05 B.S. aerospace engineering, ’07 MSA applied aviation safety
LAST BOOK YOU READ: Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission, by retired U.S. Air Force Col. Eileen M. Collins and Jonathan H. Ward
FAVORITE HOBBY: Taekwondo
WHAT’S ON YOUR BUCKET LIST: Spaceflight and visit Australia
IF YOU COULD BE A PLANET, WHICH PLANET WOULD YOU BE: Earth
WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST-USED APPS ON YOUR PHONE: Camera, Instagram and Kindle
This piece was featured in the spring 2025 edition of Florida Tech Magazine.
