Building Bridges and Shaping the Future: Johnson Recognizes AA and NHPI Workforce

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) Heritage Month provides an annual opportunity to reflect on the rich heritage and accomplishments of the native peoples, immigrants, and trailblazers who have shaped our country and its future.

To help recognize the important contributions of the Johnson Space Center’s AA and NHPI workforce, the Asians Succeeding in Innovation and Aerospace (ASIA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) nominated several outstanding employees to be featured on RoundUp Reads. Scroll below to learn more about how these individuals are sharing their cultures, building connections across Johnson, and driving agency innovations.

Meet Kimia Seyedmadani, ROI Project Engineer and Artemis Medkit Hardware Technical Lead

A quest for innovative ideas and development processes led biomedical engineer Kimia Seyedmadani to NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) in 2018. After working for several years to design and develop cutting-edge medical devices, Seyedmadani became frustrated with resistance to innovative ideas and the regulatory processes with respect to a treatment for pancreatic cancer.

“I started asking, where are the revolutionary solutions for medical devices?” she said.

Seyedmadani explored a variety of opportunities seeking answers from aerospace companies and engineering programs before connecting with Keith Tucker, chief engineer for HRP’s Research Operation and Integration Group (ROI), and landing a Pathways internship with the program. “He allowed me to ask those questions, think outside of the box, and start closing those gaps in medical device development,” she said.

Her family was shocked that Seyedmadani decided to work for NASA, given that she was an Iranian immigrant. “My sister said it sounded like a Maz Jobrani joke,” she said. When she was hired as a full-time NASA employee in January 2020, Seyedmadani was told that she was the first Iranian immigrant born post-revolution to become a civil servant with the agency.

Some aspects of Seyedmadani’s onboarding were different from other NASA employees. She recalls completing her internship trainings through NASA Protective Services and meeting with intelligence officers during times of heightened international tensions but says her peers and colleagues never treated her differently. “I’ve never had a bad experience at NASA,” she said. “I’ve had bad experiences outside of NASA. I had been called a terrorist, and as I was looking for jobs in aerospace, I did get asked to renounce my nationality. I said no, because I can’t say that I don’t have Iranian heritage and I don’t have friends in Iran.”

Since joining the Johnson team, Seyedmadani has worked to design, develop, and certify research payload kits and medical capabilities for Artemis vehicles, and to support ROI’s hardware and software development for HRP. This work involves testing devices, coming up with certification and review processes, and ensuring that products meet established regulations and standards. “If a friend asks me what I do, I say I’m Wreck-It Ralph, I break things all the time,” she joked.

She also collaborates with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to verify that any changes NASA makes to an already-approved medical device, and its expedited flight certification processes, satisfy existing standards and tests performed by the device’s original manufacturer. She frequently interacts with the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health to identify opportunities to streamline certification processes without sacrificing device safety or quality.

“I am learning a lot,” she says. “Before coming to NASA, I developed more than 50 medical devices for the medical device and diagnostic industry, but now I know that it doesn’t work exactly the same way in space. I see how necessity drives innovation.”

Seyedmadani has enjoyed participating in Johnson’s ERGs as well. One standout experience occurred during her tenure as EMERGE’s professional development chair, when the group hosted a panel about LGBTQI+ employees’ experiences. “A lot of their experiences were similar to mine,” Seyedmadani said. “When I was asked to talk about my background, I was too shy to say, because I knew people would be shocked or scared, and I could see they went through that, too. We forget that we’re all human.”

Seyedmadani has also worked with ASIA ERG to plan events for Nowruz, a Persian new year festival that marks the beginning of spring. “It was really cool that people wanted to celebrate Nowruz, because nobody ever asked me that before,” she said. Some of the planning involved deciding what kind of statement ASIA ERG should make in conjunction with the event, and Seyedmadani said she simply advocated separating the politics of the Middle East from the people. “Trying to separate myself as a government employee from the politics versus the history and the people – it’s a dynamic I have to think about every time I’m talking about these aspects,” she said. “All I see of myself is that I’m an engineer. That’s all that matters and as a civil servant now I am a role model for younger generations.”

Seyedmadani credits ERGs with educating her about the resources available to employees, in addition to connecting her with new people and learning about their unique experiences. She has particularly appreciated learning about other Asian cultures and attending events that allow employees to share a little bit of themselves with each other. She also loves sharing food with colleagues. “I think food is one of those things that survives everything and brings people together,” she said. “We have a culture that is very much focused on food, and I love pastries, so I always make sure I bring pastries to share.”

The value Johnson places on hiring employees who are naturally curious, open to learning, want to contribute to a team, and bring different knowledge or perspectives to the table is one of the center’s strengths, Seyedmadani said. Encouraging curiosity and learning is critical to both advancing human spaceflight and fostering diversity. “Tolerance is absolutely important to an inclusive environment, and knowing that no question is stupid, as long as you are giving 100%,” she said. She sees an opportunity for more social events and outreach that can help bridge the large age gaps that exist within some teams.

Seyedmadani said the connections she has made at Johnson and the support of her ROI hardware team and Human Systems Engineering and Integration Division management were key to her receiving a NASA Silver Achievement Medal in recognition for her work in HRP and the impact she has made on spaceflight hardware development processes.

“I have a wonderful team that makes me very comfortable, and it is a privilege to be around them,” she said. “When questions come up, I can easily ask them, and they will be very open to answer them. That has made my NASA experience and working at JSC very fun for me.” 

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Meet Hemanth Koralla, Gateway Software Engineer

Hemanth Koralla was working as a software developer for General Motors when he received a LinkedIn message inviting him to apply for a NASA contract position with Jacobs Technology. While unexpected, Koralla seized the opportunity. “You can’t say no to NASA!”

Koralla has spent the last two years helping to develop the Vehicle System Manager (VSM) for Gateway, NASA’s lunar space station. The VSM is vehicle-level software that will allow the station’s different components to communicate with each other and enable both human-directed and autonomous operations. Much of Koralla’s work involves designing prototypes for software that can build Gateway’s autonomous capabilities. He is also part of a design support team that works to “unblock problems” for the VSM team and provide help wherever it is needed.

Reflecting on his favorite NASA experiences to date, Koralla declared the Johnson community to be “much more exciting” than in his previous positions, citing his opportunity to don Cosmo’s inflatable mascot suit for an Artemis I launch event as one example. “I just love how these emails go out asking, who wants to be a part of this? I said, yes, I’m going to do that, and then I just showed up and got to be Cosmo and take pictures with people. I didn’t expect to do that, and it was a really fun experience,” he said.

Koralla has also enjoyed helping to organize the Engineering Directorate’s annual employee picnics, in part because they have allowed him to meet colleagues from across the entire organization. His involvement in the planning created other opportunities, as well. “As a thank you, they invited us to the OSIRIS-REx sample reveal,” he said. “It’s those moments that you step back and realize, wow, we’re working on something really cool here.”

Koralla got active in ASIA ERG shortly after arriving at Johnson in 2022, when the chair asked him to join as a cohort member and to help lead the group’s social activities. He was elected as the ERG’s recording secretary for 2023. In that role, Koralla continued to play an important part in the group’s events – including its AA and NHPI Heritage Month festival. He was particularly inspired by NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, whom he got to introduce as the festival’s emcee, and the performers who helped celebrate diversity at Johnson.

Koralla observed that the festival and other ASIA ERG events help spread cultural awareness, noting, as an example, that he did not know Nowruz was a holiday until the ERG organized a related celebration. An Iftar dinner, the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan, was another opportunity to engage with Johnson team members. “There’s such a big community at NASA that this opens the door for them to meet each other as well,” he said.

Meeting diverse Johnson colleagues and building connections through the ERG has given Koralla a better picture of NASA’s full scope of work.

Outside of the ERG, Koralla tries to support diversity and inclusion by making sure everyone’s voice is heard. “We do these deep dives where we try to work out a design for something in six to eight weeks. I definitely notice that people who are earlier in their career have a tougher time speaking up, which I can relate to because I’ve been in that situation. In those moments I try to say, let’s see what everyone in the room is thinking.”

He appreciates being part of a team that values the sharing of experiences and cultures, as well. “We have created a nice open space where we can talk openly about a lot of things and ask questions without any fear of judgment,” he said, noting that he and his teammates have many conversations about their respective cultures.

Koralla also points to the uniting power of food. “We had a Thanksgiving lunch last year, and most team members brought in typical Thanksgiving food. I didn’t grow up with that American tradition, so I brought in some Indian food instead,” he said. “It was a nice cultural sharing moment. Everyone bonds over food.”

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Meet Anima Patil-Sabale, Private Astronaut Mission Integrator

Anima Patil-Sabale has been shooting for the stars since she was a little girl growing up in India. Inspired by books about the Apollo-era space program, Patil-Sabale decided she would be an astronaut one day.

For the first step on her journey to space, Patil-Sabale hoped to become a fighter pilot, but India did not allow women to serve in these combat roles at the time. (The Indian Air Force began accepting female candidates in 2015.) Instead, Patil-Sabale pursued degrees in physics and computer applications and worked as a software engineer in Mumbai before getting a job as a software consultant in San Jose, California. Her proximity to NASA’s Ames Research Center inspired her to pursue another master’s degree, in aerospace engineering, and to apply for opportunities with the agency. Her first job with NASA was working as a software and operations engineer supporting the Kepler space telescope at Ames. She has held a variety of positions at Ames and Johnson since then. 

Patil-Sabale currently serves as a private astronaut mission (PAM) integrator for the International Space Station Program’s Avionics and Software Office. In that role, she works closely with Axiom Space team members to understand and integrate requirements for their PAMs into the space station’s onboard computers, laptops, and networking systems. It is a relatively new position, meaning Patil-Sabale is often charting new territory in her day-to-day work. “The challenges of working on something new that has not been done before on the International Space Station and the possibilities it creates for future commercialization – being a part of that all makes the job rewarding and fun,” she said.

Patil-Sabale’s time at NASA has also provided opportunities to sample the dreamed-of astronaut experience. In 2015, she was selected to serve as commander for the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) Campaign 2 Mission 3. The mission marked her first trip to Johnson. “Coming to the home of astronauts was exciting and emotional for me,” she said, adding that she has participated in several research projects and missions since HERA.  “I love the fact that in addition to the amazing work I do at NASA, I get to contribute to the human spaceflight program as a human test subject. Time will tell if I get to fly to space, but meanwhile I am happy to contribute – even if a tiny bit – to an active area of research that will help us live and thrive on Mars and eventually become a space-faring species.”

Patil-Sabale first engaged with ASIA ERG in 2019, when the group invited her to give a presentation about her personal and professional journey. She currently serves as the group’s Social/Culture Committee lead. “I love bringing people together,” she said. “I believe people enjoy not just talking about each other’s cultures and traditions, but also  being a part of them.”

That belief inspired her to spearhead a Johnson-based Diwali celebration in 2023, in addition to participating in the agencywide event organized by NASA Headquarters. Johnson’s celebration included several dance and musical performances, a fashion show, and delicious food.

“These cultural events give us an opportunity to bond in a very different way,” she said. “We get to know many sides of each other that we wouldn’t discover as strictly work colleagues.” ERG events also help people from different teams connect. “For my Diwali dance performance, I had seven people from seven different teams who did not know each other or about their work, and they got to connect during our practice sessions.”

Patil-Sabale hopes to see more cultural celebrations hosted at Johnson in the future and encouraged others to take the initiative to organize events and involve as many colleagues as possible. She also believes it is important for ERGs to continue offering these social and cultural opportunities, in addition to professional development programs. “Giving us these opportunities means so much to people like me,” she said.

Patil-Sabale appreciates any event that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well. She regularly meets with high school girls to encourage their interest in STEM careers and often speaks at International Women’s Day celebrations, where she urges women of all ages to pursue their dreams. “It’s never too late to pursue your interests, your passions,” she said.

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Meet Britney Tang, Personal Property Accountant

When you think about personal property, your home, clothes, and electronic devices probably come to mind. For NASA, personal property comprises government-owned government-held assets ranging from laptops to spacecraft and space station components. Managing the financial records for these assets is the responsibility of the Property Accounting Team, which includes Personal Property Accountant Britney Tang.

Tang sits within the Accounting Services Office of Johnson’s Office of the Chief Financial Services Officer (OCFO). She works with her colleagues to determine which NASA-held assets must be tracked over time versus expensed, and to ensure those assets are reported appropriately on Johnson’s financial statements.

While she has only held her civil servant position for a few months, Tang is no stranger to Johnson or the OCFO. She completed five rotations with NASA’s Pathways Program between 2021 and 2023, including two stints as a property accounting intern for her current office. “I jumped around a bit as an intern because I really wanted to have a full understanding of NASA’s whole business,” she said. “It made things click to see the entire process of how funds are being used and recorded throughout the agency.” Tang particularly enjoyed her rotations with the Property Accounting Team and feels lucky to rejoin them as a full-time employee.

As an accounting major at the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business, Tang planned to work for a public accounting firm or a private company when she graduated, until she stumbled upon a Pathways internship opportunity. “It was in a newsletter that my school put out, which I rarely opened, but one day I did, and I saw the call for applications,” she said. “I thought I might as well throw my hat into the ring and see where it got me.” 

Tang believes her experience highlights an important opportunity for NASA to attract more diverse talent by reaching out to students enrolled in a wider variety of schools and academic fields. “When you think of NASA, you think of engineers and rockets. I think that’s why a lot of people in business specifically do not consider NASA as a career option, because they forget that we do need mission support operations to keep things running,” she said. “I’m really passionate about telling people about the opportunities at NASA, especially on the business side.”

That passion prompted Tang to work with ASIA ERG to host a virtual event with the University of Houston’s Asian Business Student Association last year. At the time, she was participating in the group’s education and outreach and social cohorts as a Pathways intern. Tang developed a presentation for the event that provided overviews of Johnson’s business organizations, describing each organization’s work and related career opportunities for students. She also recruited several employees from those organizations to participate in the presentation and a brief panel discussion that followed. 

Tang said that she has never felt like a minority on the teams she has been a part of, noting that her current team is almost entirely female and includes several people of color, but she knows this may not be every Johnson employee’s experience. During one intern orientation session, Tang observed that she was one of five or six women in a room of 30 people. “I did not like that feeling and I expressed that to the Pathways coordinators,” she said. “I think if people don’t see someone similar to them, or someone they can relate to, it’s harder for them to feel like they can apply.”

A self-described foodie, Tang said that showing openness and acceptance of teammates’ ethnic foods is one way that every Johnson employee can promote cultural understanding and inclusivity. Asian American families often share stories about bringing Asian food to school for lunch as kids and getting teased by other students because it smelled different, she said, adding that she hopes the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines will help put an end to those experiences. Telling her fellow Pathways interns that she enjoys trying different foods around Houston helped her build connections with them, and many approached her with questions about where they should go and what they should try. “The easiest way to start a conversation is to talk about food, and food is very integral to a culture,” she said.