Dr. Alexandra Holloway imagines and brings about the future of robotic space exploration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.  She blends embedded systems expertise with a user-centered approach to investigating current and future practices, processes, and software, specifically in high-stakes areas where humans and automation meet.

She leads JPL's Mars Science Laboratory flight software team in developing new capabilities and fixing bugs with embedded software on Mars. Also a member of the data management team, she assesses file system telemetry coming from the spacecraft and writes uplink products to keep the rover's two computers squeaky clean.

]Previously, Alexandra used ethnographic techniques to understand Deep Space Network operators' the workflows and design new tools for improved efficiency in a bursty environment.  Her approach results in intimate understanding of human-computer interaction issues in these real-time complex systems. She completed her doctoral research the direction of Prof. Darrell Long.