Jessica D. Reid

Jessica Reid is an assistant leader of the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Her expertise is in multi-physics modeling and simulation and complex prototype system design and test. She has domain expertise across land, sea, air, and space. She is particularly interested in finding unique intersections of technology to enable novel solutions for challenging problems. Reid joined the Laboratory in 2009 after working in industry on rocket technology for the Space Shuttle and Atlas and Delta space launch vehicles and working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity Mars rover missions. She has a cameo in the 2022 movie “Good Night Oppy” operating the rovers on Mars from mission control.

Reid received BS and MS degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA degree in technology and space policy from the University of Colorado. Since joining the Laboratory, she has worked in the Engineering Division; the Air, Missile & Maritime Defense Technology Division; and the Biotechnology & Human Systems Division. She has designed, built, and tested thermal systems for small satellites, space optical payloads, airborne platforms, and high-energy laser systems and holds several patents for novel thermal technology. In 2016, Reid joined the Kwajalein Field Site where she was the technical lead for The Target Resolution and Discrimination Experiment and Ground Based Radar-Prototype radar systems and helped lead the effort to establish the site as a testbed for maritime autonomous systems and underwater sensing. Upon return to Lexington, Reid supported hypersonic efforts by developing models to analyze the communication system impacts of plasma surrounding a hypersonic vehicle. While researching plasmas and its effects on radio frequencies, Reid discovered an interesting link between earthquakes and the ionosphere and started working with the HADR Systems Group to develop machine learning techniques to detect pre-seismic signals in the ionosphere for earthquake early warning.

Reid enjoys travel and seeks out local coffee shops so she can enjoy a latte with a few locals. Some of her favorite activities are SCUBA diving, mountain biking, and snowboarding, which she is looking forward to rediscovering as a family in the future.