Peggy W. Harmon
RETIRED
JANUARY 2005 - 32 years of service!
I began my NASA career in December 1973 as an apprentice in the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Engineering Technician Apprentice Program after completing my 4 years of military service in the U. S. Army. I completed my apprenticeship in 1978 and earned an Associates in Applied Science Degree in Electronics Technology from Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton, Virginia, in 1980.
After graduating from high school I could not afford to attend college, so I decided to join the military. It was the best decision I ever made. This gave me the opportunity to learn a trade and secure finances for a college education. I was never really encouraged to continue my studies in math and science. I was even told that girls were not good in math. However, as a young girl I would challenge anyone who told me I could not or was not capable of doing a particular job or assignment. It was my goal to prove them wrong. Pursuing a career in electronics technology was never really in my plans. I sort of stumbled into it by accident after completing my duties in the military. It has proven to be a very rewarding career. I currently work as a supervisory electronics technologist, Head of the Electronics Instrumentation Development Section, Electronics Technology Branch, Fabrication Division. My job consists of managing a staff of highly skilled electronics technologists during the design, development, and fabrication of research-oriented electronics instrumentation for aeronautics and aerospace programs. You are welcome to visit our web site: Fabrication Division at LaRC (http://db-www.larc.nasa.gov/orgs/OC_GJ/index.html). Some of the major projects I have worked on include: Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), Lidar Atmospherics Sensing Experiment (LASE), the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE III), Gas and Aerosol Monitoring Sensorcraft (GAMS), Combined Loads Test System (COLTS), Advanced Transport Operations Systems (ATOPS), Recorder Interface Module (RIM), and B-757 research aircraft. In addition to my management duties, I am also the Electronics Technology Branch training coordinator and a certified Level B Instructor for High Reliability Soldering and Electrostatic Discharge Control. In this capacity I am responsible for providing in-house training and subsequent certification for the Branch technologist workforce. I am one of the Center’s technical representatives for the NASA Assurance Standards (NAS) for developing packaging specification criteria and test procedures relative to electronics manufacturing procedures. Although the fields of science and engineering are still largely dominated by males, more and more women are entering into the workforce. As a mentor contributing considerable time and effort in support of the Langley Research Center’s programs with area schools and universities (i.e., Shadowing Program, Virginia’s Governor’s School Program, NASA Summer High School Apprentice Research Program (SHARP), Stay-In-School Program, and NASA-Graduate Student Researcher Program), I strongly encourage young women to pursue a career in math and science. I also encourage teachers and others in the academic community to inspire students and create increased learning opportunities of NASA’s research and development programs. Please visit the Office of Education web site (http://edu.larc.nasa.gov/) for more information on these and other programs. Philosophy: "It is just as important to know what it is you do not want to do in life as knowing what it is you want to do." SPRING 1998 / JAN 2005
