Dava J. Newman

Dava J. Newman, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is most notable for assisting NASA in developing new space activity suits, namely the Bio-Suit, which provide pressure mechanically, rather than with pressurized gas, and are designed to help astronauts move around more easily. Her main area of focus is a multidisciplinary research effort combining aerospace bioengineering, human-in-the-loop dynamics and control modeling, biomechanics, human interface technology, life sciences, and systems analysis and design. In doing so, she explores the mechanics and energetic requirements of human performance across the continuum of gravity, from microgravity to lunar and Martian gravity levels.