Dr. Elizabeth Barrios holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University, a master’s degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Elizabeth is a Structural Materials Engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center focusing on the failure analysis of avionics and EEE parts. She also conducts research on the development of new energy conversion materials and processing schemes to address the needs of future manned missions to the Moon and Mars surfaces. Prior to joining Marshall Space Flight Center, Elizabeth was a contractor at NASA’s Langley Research Center (2021) where she worked on the automation of the surface preparation of carbon fiber composites and a NASA Pathways Intern at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (2016-2021) where she worked on failure analysis and fabrication of carbon fiber composite structures. In this latter role, she won a NASA Space Flight Readiness Team award (2018) for her support in the development and delivery of the Advanced Plant Habitat. 

Outside of the 9-5 job at NASA’s MSFC, Elizabeth passion for space and research has led to her being highly involved with the International Astronautical Federation and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC). Currently, she serves as the Chair and Founder of the IAF Launchpad Mentorship Programme, Co-Chair of the Luigi G. Napolitano Award, and Regional Coordinator for SGAC. She is a member of multiple governing and technical committees of the IAF including the Young Professional Programme/Workforce Development Committee, the Space Education and Outreach Committee, the Next Generation Coordination Committee, and the Materials & Structures Technical Committee. As a contributor to the ceramics research community, Elizabeth is also the Young Professional liaison to the Electronic Ceramics Division of the American Ceramic Society. 

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Elizabeth is the recipient of the International Astronautical Federation’s Young Space Leader Award (2021), the SGAC Space Generation Leadership Award (2021), the Luigi G. Napolitano Award (2020), and Emerging Space Leader Award (2018). As a PhD student, Elizabeth was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow (2016-2020).