Johns Hopkins APL’s Boye Named Maryland Outstanding Young Engineer

Jeff Boye, of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, was named the 2023 Outstanding Young Engineer by the Maryland Academy of Sciences during a ceremony May 18 at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.

A member of the Electronic Systems Engineering Group in APL’s Space Exploration Sector, Boye has led or co-led 17 Independent Research and Development (IRAD) projects, in addition to several other internally funded initiatives.

Several of his IRAD projects have addressed important needs for major government programs. Boye was a key contributor to a compact, single-board computer that flew aboard NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, which impacted asteroid Dimorphos last September in the first in-space demonstration of planetary defense technology. Techniques developed using his hardware will be integrated into the navigation coprocessor for NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will explore Saturn’s moon Titan.

Boye also develops innovative modular hardware for APL-built spacecraft avionics.

“Jeff is a very talented circuit designer and an extraordinary engineer,” said Norm Adams, supervisor of the Electronic Systems Engineering Group, who nominated Boye for the award. “He is constantly exploring new technologies that could be applied to challenging space applications. His curiosity and appreciation of higher-level system issues have put him at the center of multiple technology development efforts that straddle the entire Laboratory.”

The Outstanding Young Engineer award, established in 1988, recognizes Maryland residents who have distinguished themselves early in their careers with accomplishments in engineering. Award recipients are chosen by members of the Maryland Academy of Sciences’ Scientific Advisory Council.

Boye joins past APL winners of the award, including Philip Graff, Ryan Gardner, Bobby Armiger and Morgana Trexler.