Faces of MIT: Melissa Smith PhD ’12

Katy Dandurand | MIT Human Resources
2025-01-27 16:45:00
news.mit.edu

Melissa Smith PhD ’12 is an associate leader in the Advanced Materials and Microsystems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Her team, which is embedded within the laboratory’s Advanced Technology Division, drives innovation in fields including computation, aerospace, optical systems, and bioengineering by applying micro- and nanofabrication techniques. Smith, an inventor of 11 patents, strongly believes in the power of collaboration when it comes to her own work, the work of her Lincoln Laboratory colleagues, and the innovative research done by MIT professors and students.

Lincoln Laboratory researches and develops advanced technologies in support of national security. Research done at the laboratory is applied, meaning staff members are given a specific problem to solve by a deadline. Divisions within the laboratory are made up of technical experts, ranging from biologists to cybersecurity researchers, working on different projects simultaneously. Smith appreciates the broad application space of her group’s work, which feeds into programs across the laboratory. “We are like a kitchen drawer full of indispensable gadgets,” she says, some of which are used to develop picosatellites, smart textiles, or microrobots. Their position as a catch-all team makes their work fun, somewhat open-ended, and always interesting.

In 2012, Smith received her PhD from the MIT Department of Materials Science & Engineering (DMSE). After graduation, she remained at the Institute for nine months as a postdoc before beginning her career as an engineer at IBM. While at IBM, Smith maintained a research affiliation with MIT to continue to work on patents and write papers. In 2015, she formally returned to MIT as a technical staff member at Lincoln Laboratory. In 2020, she was promoted to the position of assistant group leader and was awarded the laboratory’s Best Invention Award for “Electrospray devices and methods for fabricating electrospray devices” (U.S. Patent 11,708,182 B2). In 2024, she was promoted to associate group leader.

Management is an important aspect of Smith’s role, and she credits the laboratory for cultivating people with both academic and technical backgrounds to learn how to effectively run programs and teams. Her demonstrated efficacy in the academic and corporate spaces — both of which contain deadlines and collaborative work — allows her to inspire her team to be innovative and efficient. She keeps her group running smoothly by removing potential roadblocks so they can adequately attend to their projects. Smith focuses on specific tasks that aid in her group’s success, including writing grant proposals, a skill she learned while working at the laboratory, which allows her staff to prioritize their technical work. That, she says, is the value of working as a team.

A true champion of teamwork, Smith advises new staff members to maintain an open mind because they can learn something from everyone they encounter, especially when first starting at the Institute. She notes that every colleague has something unique to offer, and taking time to understand the wealth of experience and knowledge around you will only help you succeed as a staff member at MIT. “Be who you are, do what you do, and run with it,” she says.

Soundbytes

Q: What project at MIT are you the proudest of?

Smith: We are building a wafer-scale satellite, which is a little bit out-there as an idea. It was thought up in the 1960s, but the technology wasn’t to the point where it could be realized. Technology today is more than capable of making this small space microsystem. I was tasked with taking the idea further. Some people say that it is impossible, and for a lot of good reasons! Slowly addressing the technical issues to the point where people now say, “Oh, you could probably do this,” is exciting.

I never want to be someone who thinks something is impossible. I’ll say, “I can’t do it, but maybe somebody else can,” and I will also add, “Here is what I tried, here is all the data, and here is how I came to the point where I got stuck.” I like taking something that was initially met with disbelief and rendering it. Lincoln Laboratory is active with professors and students. I am collaborating with students from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics on the project, and we now have a patent on the technology that came from it. I am happy to have students assist, write papers, and occasionally get their names on patents. It is seeding additional innovation. We don’t have the system quite yet, but I’ve converted a few skeptics!

Q: What are your favorite campus memories from when you were a student?

Smith: When I was a graduate student, I would go with friends to the Muddy Charles Pub in Walker Memorial. One of the things I really enjoy about Walker Memorial is the prime view over the Charles River, and I remember staring out of the windows at the top of Walker Memorial after exams. Also, during Independent Activities Period I learned how to snowboard. I’m from Illinois where there are no mountains. When I came to the East Coast and saw that there were a lot of mountains with people strapping metal to their feet in the snow, I thought, “OK, let’s try it.” I love snowboarding to this day. MIT has this kind of unfettered freedom in a way that, even beyond the technical stuff, people can try things from a personal standpoint they maybe wouldn’t have tried somewhere else.

Q: What do you like the most about the culture at MIT?

Smith: We help people grow professionally. The staff here are above average in terms of capability in what they do. When I interviewed for my job, I asked where people work when they leave MIT. People move on to other labs like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or companies like Raytheon, they become professors, or they start their own companies. I make sure that people are learning what they want to do with their careers while they work at the laboratory. That is the cultural overlay that exists on campus. When I was a student, I interned at John Deere, 3M, Xerox, and IBM and saw how they are innovative in their own ways that define their corporate cultures. At MIT, you are supported to explore and play. At Lincoln Laboratory people are not pigeonholed into a particular role. If you have an idea, you are encouraged to explore it, as long as it aligns with the mission. There is a specific freedom you can experience at MIT that is above and beyond a typical academic environment.

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