NASA Environmental Engineer Receives Society of Women Engineers Technical Achievement Award

Dr. Jacqueline Quinn, a NASA environmental engineer in the Spaceport Engineering and Technology Directorate at Kennedy SpaceCenter, recently received the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Technical Achievement Award.

The Space Coast section of SWE honored Quinn with the award for her “scientific and engineering research of innovative solutions for the remediation of groundwater, soil and sediment contamination at the Spaceport.”

Quinn and three University of Central Florida professors developed the Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI), which uses iron particles in an environmentally friendly oil and water base to neutralize toxic chemicals. Ultimately, Quinn would like to see this technology used to fight groundwater contamination.

“I was very surprised to receive the award,” Quinn said. “There are so many talented women engineers doing incredible science research and development in the Space Coast area. I am honored to be one of SWE’s recognized achievers for 2003.”

Quinn started working on the EZVI technology in 2000 with a grant from the Small Business Technology Transfer Program at KSC. A patent for the technology has been issued with two more patents pending.

Two licenses for EZVI also were issued by NASA, which shows the high commercial potential for the technology. Two other emulsion formulas have been submitted for application to other environmental contaminants.