Shaw grew up in Maryland, where she attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County on a scholarship supporting African Americans pursing Ph.D. degrees in STEM fields. There, she earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering. She earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at John Hopkins University, where she specialized in studying materials. She worked with thin films and microelectromechanical systems, or “little machines” as Shaw calls them. For several years after her Ph.D., she studied the strength of platinum alloys in Cape Town, South Africa, with a focus on creating stronger and more scratch-resistant allows for use in jewelry and other products.

A few years later, Shaw made her way to NASA back in the U.S., where she started working on various flight projects. As a materials engineer, she recommended, tested and approved materials for various NASA equipment and space flight missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope. For Shaw, working on materials for the Hubble Space Telescope, specifically on materials for the tools astronauts would use to repair the satellite, has been one of the most exciting accomplishments of her career so far.

“The Hubble mission was exciting because it involved science, helping us look further out into the universe; it involved astronauts, because astronauts had to service the telescope in space; and it was a giant engineering challenge to repair the satellite in space,” Shaw said. “I was able to work on that mission for several years before the mission launched, so I saw the whole process. It was very exciting.”

Over time, Shaw transitioned from her career in materials engineering to a career in safety at NASA. Today, Shaw is the lead of the Safety, Quality, and Management Systems Division at NASA's Stennis Space Center. Shaw works to improve and maintain a culture of safety at Stennis, or “how people act when no one is watching, like how you automatically put on your seatbelt,” Shaw said. “That’s what we are trying to do here, making safety a part of how we do business.”

Throughout her undergraduate and graduate education, Shaw was also active in various organizations promoting women and minorities in STEM fields. Below, we've asked her a few questions about her experiences as a female engineer, how she has realized her dreams and what advice she has for young women pursuing STEM careers.