If Digital transformation There was one ship, the ship to advance our mission and ensure a smooth passage into the future, our last Digital Transformer of 2024 captain. Growing up sailing with her father on the Chesapeake Bay, the transformer developed the navigational skills she now uses at NASA “with both clarity and precision, much like a sailor who follows the subtle changes of wind.” understands,” says Christina Hammes, DT Enterprise Integration. The architect. “She knows how to look at the sea to find the invisible wind,” notes Patrick Murphy, DT portfolio manager. works to get us where we want to be.” Vision and leadership are just two of the many reasons why our December Digital Transformer, Jill Marlowe, is at the helm of our ever-evolving journey.
Jill has dedicated more than three decades to her career at NASA, starting as an engineer and working her way up through the ranks. Digital Transformation Officer. His early sailing experiences led him to major in marine and aerospace engineering at Virginia Tech. An innate passion for continuous improvement led to subsequent master’s degrees in mechanical, civil and environmental engineering. As Jill moved into leadership positions in NASA’s engineering organizations, divisions, and directorates, she realized that the technology she was using to transform her work naturally presented a wide range of challenges to the agency. Range control can also help.
His keen eye for cross-cutting solutions positioned him perfectly for the dynamic role of digital transformation officer, diving into technical issues with engineers one day and strategizing with senior executives the next. Although she brings a strictly technical background to the role, Jill enjoys the creative and collaborative aspects more. “It really gives me an opportunity to engage with a lot of early career people who often bring some of these digital ideas to our workplace,” she says. “To me, it’s a very creative role, and that’s what I love most about it.”
Jill is committed to practicing what she preaches, strategically leveraging tools like Microsoft Teams and other M365 applications to create a culture of digital innovation and inspire others to join the movement. can be affected. Krista Cunard, DT Culture and Communications Lead, says, “We work in a digital world with new tools that make our lives easier. Jill really shows how we communicate with each other. and can be streamlined to lead our team to success. Jill’s growth mindset inspires her to stay on the cutting edge of new capabilities—always enabling mission results and partnering with us. Capacity building with the goal of
Jill Marlowe
Digital Transformation Officer
Jill’s passionate belief in the power of collaboration is reflected in the way she talks about her technical work, particularly with digital engineering (DE). “I’m very excited about where we are with digital engineering at NASA and the progress that Terry Hill and his team have made. [toward] a unified engineering community,” says Jill. Through seed funding and ongoing collaboration, Jill and the DT team have grown digital engineering at NASA from early prototype tests to an operational program. Office of the Chief Engineer. In addition to aligning the community around a shared vision, Jill is proud of the team’s quantitative achievements in digitalizing engineering processes and developing systems, tools, and approaches to adopt a common tool chain. “I feel like we’ve been talking about these kinds of ideas our entire careers, and we’re close to putting it in the hands of NASA engineers to work together and with our partners in these ways. able to do things that we haven’t been able to do before.”
For Jill, DT’s measure of success lies in enabling more complex missions, collaborating seamlessly with partners, and building more flexible systems that prepare us for the future. Under his leadership, DT facilitated the maturation of the NASA Mission Cloud, a digital solution for capturing mission capability requirements and defining technology requirements. In FY24, DT launched the new IT Modernization for Transformation (ITMX) fund and developed a $10M portfolio of enterprise solutions in data interoperability, federated search, digital engineering, cyber security, artificial intelligence, and more. By championing and demonstrating the value of digital transformation at NASA, Jill pioneered solutions that accelerate discovery and mission delivery.
Throughout her career, Jill has built bonds, driven innovation, and positioned the agency to benefit from the impact of her work long after her upcoming retirement in December. However, his legacy can best be summed up in the way he made people feel. “It sounds simple, but many people are listening to respond, whereas Jill is listening to understand,” Krista says. The rest of the DT leadership echoes this sentiment. “Jill has a deep knowledge of NASA and has built strong relationships throughout the agency. Most of all, I value her mentorship and friendship,” says Christina. Patrick put it simply: ” It’s been a pleasure collaborating with Jill.”
As she reflects on her time at the agency, Jill shares inspiring aspirations for the future of NASA and DT’s ability to take us on that journey. “When times are tough, people want heroes. I think what NASA does is bring humanity together. When I think about the great expectations that NASA has for the future and the technology that’s coming with it. that can make those dreams a reality…it literally gives me chills.” She continues, “I encourage the ongoing community around digital transformation to find common solutions to shared challenges. Constant struggle. Because I really think that’s the way we’re going to get from here to there.