William Evans launches welding engineering career at NASA

Posted: July 20, 2022

William Evans became interested in welding engineering because of the breadth of applications. Aerospace, automotive, biomedical and consumer are just some of the areas where welding engineering has a strong presence. Opportunities for welding engineers are nearly endless as the ratio of available jobs far exceed the number of engineers.

After earning his B.S. (2017) and M.S. (2019) in welding engineering, Evans launched his career at NASA as a welding engineer. He is currently working at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center where he supports everything from research and development to fabrication and manufacturing of space flight hardware. "Our weld team has historically been involved in developing and manufacturing rockets for NASA's human spaceflight program stretching back to the Apollo missions," shares Evans.

Evans was originally introduced to NASA through the Manufacturing & Materials Joining Innovations Center (Ma2JIC) and connections within his research group at Ohio State, "I was always aware of [NASA's] welding program while I was in college because past research collaborations of Ohio State and NASA were discussed during class. My first professional introduction to NASA was through Ma2JIC."

William, Christine Staschiak (Environmental Engineering, 2017) and coworker Ian Haskin took a break from their jobs during an assignment at NASA's Kennedy Space Center where they captured the iconic pose representative of Willam's and Christine's alma mater.

The setting is launch pad 39B with the Artemis I Space Launch System as their backdrop. Preparations are underway as the Artemis I Moon Mission draws near. According to NASA's website, "Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space."¹The launch of Artemis I is planned for August, but a date has not yet been announced.