{"id":12373,"date":"2026-08-13T19:03:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T19:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rdgundem.com\/for-west-virginia-engineer-home-is-where-the-heart-is-and-nasa-too\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T19:03:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T19:03:19","slug":"for-west-virginia-engineer-home-is-where-the-heart-is-and-nasa-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdgundem.com\/en\/for-west-virginia-engineer-home-is-where-the-heart-is-and-nasa-too\/","title":{"rendered":"For West Virginia\u00a0Engineer, Home Is Where the Heart Is\u2026 and NASA, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA\u2019s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility (IV&V) held a swearing-in ceremony for civil servants on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, at the facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. In total, 51 new employees were hired at IV&V as part of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman\u2019s directive to strengthen NASA\u2019s technical core competencies.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Growing up in Grafton, West Virginia, engrossed in Star Wars and all things science fiction, Fletcher Newell had an early interest in space exploration. That interest only grew when, in 2013, his fourth-grade class took a field trip to a nearby NASA facility he had not yet heard of \u2013 NASA\u2019s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility, located in nearby. Thirteen years later, Newell and 48 of his colleagues at the facility were sworn in as NASA civil servants during a ceremony on Aug. 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always admired NASA from afar,\u201d said Newell, who started working at IV&V as a systems engineer contractor in early 2025. \u201cTo my surprise, the agency was doing impactful work in my backyard.\u201d
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During high school, he began cultivating programming skills that would lay the foundation for his future. A self-professed computer aficionado, Newell taught himself how to code. In algebra class, he discovered that his graphing calculator was programmable, leading him to create basic scripts. He quickly moved to popular software applications, learning how they were built in order to develop his own programs. Artificial intelligence was still on the brink of becoming mainstream, but he was already asking himself, \u201cWhat are the more interesting things we can teach computers to do?\u201d As a junior in 2019, the precocious programmer merged his talents with his passion for space after being accepted into IV&V\u2019s high school internship program.
Newell created a database for engineering methods, processing hundreds of documents to facilitate the work of his colleagues from a procedural aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking as a high school intern really elevated my fascination for NASA,\u201d he said.
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Following graduation in 2020, Newell headed west to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, majoring in, naturally, computer science, with a focus on AI and machine learning when both were scaling rapidly across industries and in everyday usage.
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Instead of pursuing internships in the neighboring Silicon Valley \u2013 widely considered the global center for technological innovation \u2013 he returned to West Virginia for three consecutive summers, cutting his teeth at the Fairmont facility.<\/p>\n

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Fletcher Newell stands in front of the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, as a high school intern in 2019.<\/div>\n
Photo courtesy: Fletcher Newell<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He began researching AI safety as engineers learned how to give spacecraft more onboard autonomy and have them learn on their own. Later, he was on a team responsible for assessing the safety of Terrain Relative Navigation, a vision-based guidance technology that could enable spacecraft to land on planetary surfaces without GPS. During his final internship, generative AI \u2013 which creates content based on user prompts \u2013 was becoming widespread, and he worked on teams exploring how to responsibly integrate it into mission assurance.
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Newell also performed research about autonomous space docking at Stanford\u2019s Center for AI Safety, resulting in two publications. Following his undergraduate education, he remained at Stanford to earn a master\u2019s in computer science.
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When it came time to enter the workforce, one organization was atop his list. A contractor opportunity opened up at IV&V, and he leapt at the chance.
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\u201cI enjoyed the work at IV&V back in high school and college,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than pursuing what aligns with your interests.\u201d
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As a systems engineer, he has worked primarily on mission safety and security, identifying and resolving system defects and vulnerabilities for such spacecraft as Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom, Orion, Gateway, and the Human Landing System, all while helping guide NASA\u2019s responsible adoption and development of AI systems.
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His colleagues took notice of their junior member\u2019s contributions, resulting in Newell being named IV&V Engineer of the Year in 2025 less than a year into the job after identifying more than 70 issues in Gateway \u2013 and later SR-1 Freedom \u2013 with clear mission impact and, as noted in his award citation, developing a reputation for clearly articulating their implications.
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\u201cDuring his internships and now as a full-time engineer, Fletcher has consistently demonstrated exceptional talent, curiosity, and a passion for our mission,\u201d said Wes Deadrick, IV&V director. \u201cHe could have gone almost anywhere after Stanford. The fact that he chose to come home to build his career supporting NASA through the IV&V Program makes me incredibly proud.\u201d
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The Aug. 10 ceremony for Newell and his colleagues was part of NASA\u2019s workforce directive to bring core, mission-critical positions into the civil service, from early-career professionals to seasoned technical experts.
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\u201cIt\u2019s an investment in NASA\u2019s future, giving us the opportunity to bring exceptionally talented people into the civil service while strengthening long-term technical capabilities that support our nation\u2019s most challenging missions,\u201d said Deadrick. \u201cAt IV&V, initiatives like this help ensure we continue providing independent expertise and mission assurance that our customers depend on.\u201d
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For Newell, as he takes this next step in his professional progression as a civil servant computer engineer, he looks forward to expanding on his responsibilities, especially to help NASA return to the Moon. He is currently helping identify safety and security issues, including ones that could impact crew safety and lead to the loss of spacecraft control, related to the agency\u2019s lunar endeavors.
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\u201cAt IV&V, teams are ensuring every major lunar vehicle and system will be ready to safely embark on their missions, not just for flying around the Moon, but also for putting American boots on the surface and eventually establishing and working on a Moon Base,\u201d he said.
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More than a decade after taking that field trip and now working on some of NASA\u2019s high-priority missions, Newell readily admits he didn\u2019t always envision staying in West Virginia.
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\u201cIt was a little strange coming back, but I was continually getting to do amazing things at an amazing organization in a place I already know,\u201d Newell said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

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