The Promise, Episode 2: Looking to the Future with 20 Under 35 Honorees Julie Newman, Dr. Zhe Liu and Alix Rousseliere

In this Better Satellite World podcast series, we ask the question: “What would you do if you had the power to make the world a better place during your career?” Joining SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla to answer that question in the second episode are 3 members of the “20 Under 35” cohort of 2023: Julie Newman, Program Chief Engineer at Boeing; Dr. Zhe Liu, Senior Materials & Process Engineer at Maxar; and Alix Rousselière, Strategy Consultant for Satcom at Euroconsult.

Julie Newman is Program Chief Engineer for Satelit Nusantara Lima N5 (SNL), a major geostationary communications satellite program, at Boeing. In this role, she has been instrumental in overseeing risk management and problem resolution for the satellite, particularly in the midst of a challenging shift to a different payload. Julie regularly directs and approves the work of senior engineering staff and provides recommendations to the program management office and the customer. She has also represented her executive manager in various critical functions, ranging from safety to quality assurance across Boeing’s El Segundo site and has spearheaded multiple process improvement initiatives, including major efforts to improve Boeing’s engineering training and metrics tracking systems. Before taking on her current position, Julie was the Technical Program Manager, a role in which she led a team of 15 engineers to develop the engine controller assembly for the Space Launch System (SLS) first stage rocket. The team consistently exceeded expectations under her leadership while executing a late re-design of the unit to resolve a leakage issue associated with a sneak path discovered during testing of the engineering model. She received a Promise Award from SSPI in 2023.

Dr. Zhe Liu is Senior Materials & Process Engineer at Maxar as well as an accomplished scientist with a broad range of expertise in material science, biopolymers and computer science. Originally from China, Dr. Liu began her academic journey with an undergraduate degree in her home country. She then spent several years engaged in research and development in biopolymers before moving to the U.S. for further studies. She earned a Master’s degree in Material Science with a concentration in composite materials from the University of Dayton before pursuing a PhD at Florida State University, where her research focused on nano composite materials for thermal ablative applications. During her PhD, Dr. Liu joined a California-based start-up company that specialized in the novel 3D printing of continuous fiber carbon composites. As team leader, she characterized the materials and developed the process for printing structural components. This crucial work paved the way for the successful commercialization of a carbon fiber/thermoplastic composite bicycle. Dr. Liu is currently working on a second Master’s degree in Computer Science at Georgia Tech while working full-time for Maxar.

Alix Rousselière is Strategy Consultant for Satcom at Euroconsult, which she joined in April 2022. Her role responsibilities include advising satellite operators and space agencies, conducting commercial and financial assessments and developing market intelligence reports on a variety of topics, including milsatcom and NGSO constellations. Although not an engineer herself, Alix has completed exemplary work on highly technical technology harmonization dossiers for the European Space Agency (ESA), demonstrating her ability to learn and adapt quickly. She participated in more than 12 international consulting missions within her first year at Euroconsult. Before joining Euroconsult, Alix spent two years at Thales in Abu Dhabi where she worked on Strategy and Commercial Development for Defense & Space Key Accounts. In particular, Alix formulated and helped implement a new, transversal, coordinated 5-year Strategic Plan for the company’s UAE Defense accounts by analyzing trends and providing recommendations to C-level executive management on priority subjects and associated investments.