Adabelle Narvaez-Bostwick has worked in the same building at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for 35 years, and the chief engineer for aeronautics has no plans on going anywhere else.
“I always dreamt of working at NASA; the rest is history,” she said. “I ended up here and haven’t left since.”
The seeds of that dream were planted while Narvaez-Bostwick was growing up in Puerto Rico. While studying electrical engineering in college, Narvaez-Bostwick discovered NASA’s work, reading extensively about how the space program led to technologies that improved people’s quality of life.
During university, however, Narvaez-Bostwick wasn’t just learning the technical aspects of STEM.
“I needed to learn a second language,” she said. “I wanted to be as bilingual as possible, so I taught myself English.”
She deliberately signed up for classes in English instead of Spanish, toting around a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words.
Despite learning a new language, facing doubts from her peers, being one of the few women in her classes, and being the first one in her family planning to leave the island for a career, she pushed herself to get a foot in the door at NASA.
“I wanted to be a part of that world,” Narvaez-Bostwick said. “I was inspired by the fact of challenging myself to say, ‘I can do this, and I will do it.’”
After NASA visited Puerto Rico to recruit new employees, the agency offered the budding engineering student a co-op at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Upon graduation, Narvaez-Bostwick accepted a full-time position at Glenn. Contributing to projects that spanned spaceflight systems to aeronautics, she ended up loving the center.
“My favorite part of Glenn is the community, the way we work together, the way we relate to each other,” she said. “It makes you feel like coming to work is also being part of a bigger family.”
The turning point in her professional career, Narvaez-Bostwick says, is when she had the opportunity to be chief engineer for the upper stage simulator that Glenn was developing for NASA’s Ares I-X test rocket. Now, as chief engineer for aeronautics, she oversees Glenn’s whole portfolio of aeronautics projects.
“We’re hoping to get to a place where commercial aircraft are safer, more sustainable, and more efficient,” she said.
Narvaez-Bostwick provides technical management guidance for NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD), Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC), and Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT) projects, and more. She helps teams set up effective processes for their work while balancing costs, schedules, and risks.
“There’s a lot to learn and a lot that needs to happen to make these projects successful,” she said. “Every project is unique; every person in the project is unique.”
Narvaez-Bostwick says that diversity in background and technical expertise is a plus, and it’s important to recognize that mission success depends on everyone’s contributions.
“We have a lot of great people that come from many different places; it makes your team so much better,” she said. “My vision for the people I lead is to see them work toward the same goals, like an orchestra – having them all playing together for great music and rhythm.”
Despite having such a dynamic job, Bostwick doesn’t get overwhelmed, she says. She’s a systems thinker and strives to get out of her comfort zone.
“I love the complexity; challenges motivate me,” she said. “I need to feel uncomfortable – that’s how we grow and learn.”
Besides seeing the projects she oversees come to fruition, Narvaez-Bostwick’s biggest goal going forward is to support the next generation of NASA recruits the way she feels she’s been supported in her career.
“I want to be that person now to help mentor others, help them to grow, push them to do what I believe they can do,” she said.
Narvaez-Bostwick says she is glad she’s never backed down from the challenges she’s faced and is excited to keep pushing NASA’s aeronautics missions forward from Glenn’s Building 86.
“Nothing is impossible,” she said. “A lot of people laughed in my face when I said, ‘I’m going to work for NASA one day.’ But here I am, and I’m not the only one.”
NASA is in a Golden Era of aeronautics and space exploration. In partnership with commercial and private businesses, NASA is currently making history with significant missions such as Artemis, Quesst, and electrified aviation. The NASA’s Modern History Makers series highlights members of NASA Glenn’s workforce who make these remarkable missions possible.
Top image: Adabelle Narvaez-Bostwick stands inside NASA Glenn’s Icing Research Tunnel. Credits: NASA/Bridget Caswell
Ellen Bausback
NASA’s Glenn Research Center
