Dr. Columbia Mishra
Chief Technology Officer
Global Space Industry Trade Association (GSITA)
Dr. Columbia Mishra is an experienced engineering leader with over 17 years’ track record in systems engineering and program management in diverse technology sectors, including Intel Corporation, Apple Inc, Stress Engineering Services, Makino Asia in Singapore, and Tata Motors in India. Most recently, she was a Systems Engineering Manager at Maxar Technologies, overseeing 4 commercial satellite programs and developing next-generation spacecraft for a range of missions. Columbia is the co-founder and CTO of the Global Space Industry Trade Association (GSITA) dedicated to providing underrepresented communities access to workforce development in the space industry. Dr. Mishra has a deep knowledge of thermal fluids systems, consumer electronics and spacecraft engineering. Her research has been published in journals such as Nature Materials, Journal of Fluid Mechanics. She holds 6 patents pending, 2 granted for her work in thermal architecture and innovation in electronic systems.
Dr. Mishra is a distinguished speaker who appears at multiple global forums on the science of spacecraft engineering. Currently, she mentors first-generation high school students and early-career engineers globally. She also serves as the industry advisor to the Carnegie Mellon University Rocket Command club.
Dr. Mishra is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow and serves on the Technical and Engineering Communities overseeing 36 technical divisions. Columbia is highly involved with the technical community and served on the CTO Technology Advisory Council of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE). Columbia is a recipient of numerous awards including the 2023 Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Emerging Leader Award, ASME 2020 Lakshmi Singh Early Career Leadership Award, and the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship.
Columbia holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, her M.S. from Texas Tech and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Jadavpur University. The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) inducted her into its Mechanical Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2022 for her contributions to mechanical engineering. Dr. Mishra was elected an ASME Fellow in 2023.