Dr. Dava Newman is the is the incoming director of the MIT Media Lab. She’s also the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at MIT and a faculty member for Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology. She served as NASA Deputy Administrator (2015-17), the first female engineer in this role, and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Her research and teaching expertise include aerospace biomedical engineering, astronaut performance, advanced space suit design, leadership development, innovation and space policy. Newman has been principal investigator (PI) on four spaceflight missions flown aboard the Space Shuttle, Russian Mir Space Station and the International Space Station, and is best known for her revolutionary BioSuit™ planetary spacesuit. She is the author Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, has over 300 publications, and has supervised 90 graduate students and mentored more than 200 undergraduates.