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Hard Work and Talent Lead to Dream Job at Boeing
Written by: Tom Roeder
Amanda Gertjejansen stands before the Space Launch System booster in New Orleans as it is rolled out for a sea voyage to Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Boeing Boeing SLS engineer career
Amanda Gertjejansen went to college with a single goal: Make more than her mother — enough to put poverty in the past. Now she’s on a rocket ride, managing a Boeing integrated product team overseeing the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage.
Amanda Gertjejansen Boeing
At Louisiana State University, Gertjejansen studied industrial engineering, which earned her an internship with Boeing’s helicopter division in 2008. She loved the Pennsylvania job and was hired there after graduation. When a family illness called her home to Louisiana in 2012, Boeing managers worked to take care of the talented young engineer, sending her to NASA’s Michoud Manufacturing Facility in New Orleans, one of the few Boeing-led operations in her home state.
Space Launch System team leader
Working on the SLS opened a new horizon for Gertjejansen. “I really fell in love with space,” she said. She also really got noticed, rapidly ascending the ranks to become a key leader.
Artemis missions Kennedy Space Center
Now she’s at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in her dream job, leading a team of engineers and technicians preparing for Artemis III and IV while making sure Artemis II is ready for launch.
Aerospace career success story
Boeing’s integrated product teams bring together skills across the spectrum, with Gertjejansen working as coach, manager, and integrator as workers in different fields apply niche skills to problems. She has simple advice for those who want to soar in the aerospace world. “Just make sure you put everything into every job — for me it just set up bigger opportunities.”
Related content: Artemis II’s Slow Crawl to the Moon: Inside the 8-Hour Journey to Launch
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