Jessica E. Snyder

MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: As a mechanical engineering student, I worked with Albert Soffa Chair Professor Dr. Wei Sun in his Biofabrication Lab to design and patent a method to 3D print living cells that has since been licensed for commercial development. I translated this method from regenerative medicine to industrial design in support of human space missions in the 2020s. Within NASA’s Space Science and Astrobiology Division, I use biology and 3D printing to manufacture objects for habitats where natural resources are scarce and that are inaccessible to supply chains. Three-dimensionally printed biological systems convert sunlight into products that need replacing during a multi-year mission (e.g. filters, socks), large objects (construction materials for a habitat) and custom designs (ergonomic splints).

HOW DREXEL HELPED: Drexel assumes its students are ambitious and capable — as evidenced by the co-op program. I took advantage of the classes to gain technical competency, research opportunities to face the unknown, and leadership positions to prioritize the actions of a group.

WHERE I’ll BE IN FIVE YEARS: I want to know if life on Earth came from Mars — and if we can return. To detect life and study its origins, we need to explore and to see Earth from another perspective. Someday, Martian colonizers will use 3D print biology to build their world, revolutionizing what both “uninhabitable” and “scarce” mean.