代理中心首席技术专家菲利普·威廉姆斯博士
“I did not know that NASA Langley was right here in my own backyard. I was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, and NASA Langley is in Hampton, about 45 minutes away. All throughout elementary school, I didn’t know that NASA was here. I always thought NASA was in Florida or Texas or somewhere.
“I was in this summer program [in eighth grade], learning physics at the university. I vividly remember we had a guest speaker. He was an African American mechanical engineer and he had on the blue flight suit. And he said he worked at NASA, and it just blew my mind.
“And at that point, I saw myself in him. I didn’t even know that NASA was here, so close to me, and I hadn’t seen anybody who had ever worked there. So that left a mark in my mind: ‘Wow, NASA is here.’
“… When I was in college, I came back to my high school to talk to a class about majoring in physics. And there was a student, maybe two years under me. I remember meeting her. I remember interacting. I remember talking with her just briefly at this career fair event.
“I found out years later that seeing me in high school and hearing my experience in college inspired her to major in physics, and so she became the first robotics director at her school. And now she’s a principal. And it just rocked me because I was just being me and trying to share. It seemed like I paid it forward the same way that NASA mechanical engineer made a mark on me.”
— Dr. Phillip Williams, Acting Center Chief Technologist, NASA’s Langley Research Center
Image Credit: NASA/Mark Knopp
Interviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos
Check out some of our other Faces of NASA.
“我不知道NASA的兰利研究中心就在我家后院。我在弗吉尼亚州的朴茨茅斯出生并长大，而NASA兰利研究中心总部在汉普顿，大约45分钟车程。整个小学时期，我都不知道NASA在这里。我一直以为NASA在佛罗里达或者德克萨斯或者别的什么地方。
“八年级时，我参加了一个暑期项目，在大学学习物理。我清楚地记得我们有一位演讲嘉宾。他是一位非裔美国机械工程师，穿着蓝色的飞行服。他说他在NASA工作，这让我大吃一惊。
“那一刻，我在他身上看到了自己的影子。我甚至不知道NASA就在这里，离我这么近，而且我还没见过在那里工作过的人。所以这在我脑海里留下了一个印记：‘哇，NASA就在这里’。
“……当我上大学时，我回到我的高中，给一个班的学生讲关于主修物理的事情。有一个学生，可能比我低两年级。我记得我见过她，。我记得我们有过互动。我记得在这次招聘会上我和她有过简短的交谈。
“多年后我发现，在高中看到我和听到我在大学的经历，激励了她主修物理，于是她成为了学校的第一位机器人主任。现在她已经是校长了。这让我很震撼，因为我只是做我自己，并试图分享。就像NASA的机械工程师给我留下的印记一样，我似乎也有所回报。”
——菲利普·威廉姆斯（Phillip Williams）博士，NASA兰利研究中心代理中心首席技术专家
图片来源：NASA/Mark Knopp
采访者：NASA/Thalia Patrinos