LWON Glenn – DIANA CENTENO-GOMEZ

DIANA CENTENO-GOMEZ NASA Glenn Research Center

Research Engineer

Ms. Diana Centeno-Gómez is a Research Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center. As a NASA Subsystem Engineer, Diana’s main responsibility is to be NASA’s expert/steward of the Shuttle’s Purge, Vent and Drain (PV&D) subsystem’s functions, hardware, and analysis. In addition, she also works on the Biofuels program at the NASA Glenn Research Center for which she conducts fundamental research and modeling in the area of alternative fuels for aviation. Recently she was awarded the Space Flight Awareness (SFA) Honoree Award, one the highest and most prestigious awards available to employees of NASA and the aerospace industry.

During her time at NASA Diana has had a variety of positions and has also worked at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aeronautics in Washington DC. Also while in Washington Diana worked for the Department of Education for the White House Initiative for Hispanic Excellence in Education. Diana’s previous positions include Computer Engineer for the Principal Center for Workgroup Hardware and Software; Project Engineer for the Noise Reduction Program, and Project Manager for the Space Station Electrical Power System Power Management Controller Application.

Supporter of Outreach Programs

Outside of Diana’s role with NASA, she has been actively involved in the Greater Cleveland Hispanic community. She is currently a board member of the Hispanic Roundtable, LATINA, Inc. and the Domestic Violence Center. She recently became a mentor with the Civic Innovation Lab. Diana has received several awards for her community involvement: Women of Achievement by the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women (NACOPRW), Hispanic Women of the Year by NACOPRW, and the Community Service Award by Region IV of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. She was inducted into Kaleidoscope Magazine Cuarenta/Cuarenta Club in 2005.

Education / Background

 Diana obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Math with Honors from the University of Puerto Rico in 1980. She also has a Master’s in Applied Math from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1983), a Master in Computer Information Science from Cleveland State University (1994), and a Space Studies Summer Program Certificate from the International Space University (1998). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Mathematics at Kent State University.

SEPTEMBER 2010