Natalie Martinez-Vlasoff is a hard-working mother of four beautiful children, a wife to a very loving and supportive husband, and an engineer. She obtained her B.S. and M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Cal State University, Los Angeles. Prior to starting her engineering career with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) she worked for an Alaskan Native Corporation called Tatitlek Corp. in Anchorage, Alaska, where she was a programmer/analyst. It is the one place that had the most profound impact on her life as it relates to setting your life on a definite path. It is also where she met husband and the place that ultimately lead her back to California to further her education. 

From that point, she completed a master’s degree and worked in the green energy industry for two years before returning to JPL for a full-time position, where she stayed for almost six years. She moved to Huntsville, Alabama to start a new position as the Deputy System Engineer & Integration Lead for the core stage engines of NASA’s newest and most powerful rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS). 

Outside of working and growing her career, Natalie and her husband spend copious amounts of time teaching their children Spanish, American Sign Language, and many aspects of both of our combined cultural heritage. Every year they visit family in Alaska and take a trip to the village in Tatitlek, as well as trips to Mexico. Their children love picking berries and learning how to live off the land. 

Natalie is also an avid 5K runner and plays the cello whenever she can find the time.