Standing up to the heat

Vann Heng poses with a novel ceramic component with attachment features for a high-temperature thermal protection system. (Boeing photo)

The idea first occurred to her as a high school senior living in Dayton, Ohio. During an internship at a local automotive factory, she job-shadowed an engineer overseeing the assembly line. Seeing firsthand how automotive design requirements came to life in a finished product was something to behold.

“It inspired me to want to be a part of that,” Heng recalled. “I saw myself working in an industry where I, too, could impact critical design and see it through to the next level.”

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering from Wright State University and UCLA, respectively, Heng spent the first decade of her career working at a small Southern California-based manufacturing company, where she developed ultra-high-temperature material technologies for extreme environments. She remembers being the only woman and the only person of color working there at the time.

In 1997, she joined Boeing in Huntington Beach, California. Heng said she was drawn to the culture of innovation, the range of roles and responsibilities, and the opportunities to make a tangible impact on a high-profile team.

During her time at Boeing, Heng has developed, qualified and transitioned ceramic thermal protection system materials that have flown on the Space Shuttle Orbiter, CST-100 Starliner, X-37B and B-2 programs, among others. She has published or delivered more than 30 technical papers and presentations and holds more than 20 patents.

In 2006, Boeing’s monthly Frontiers magazine published a story called “Beat the Heat,” describing how Heng’s three-woman team improved their ceramic tiles by developing Boeing Rigid Insulation, helping NASA space shuttles re-entering Earth weather “scorching environment hotter than molten lava.”

Earlier this year, Heng was asked to give a quick presentation to colleagues about her career journey. A photo and note from the opening slide offers a window into Heng’s life that, until now, she had been selective about sharing: “Survivor from the Cambodian communist genocide in 1975 to 1979.”

From Southeast Asia to the Midwest

Born and raised in Cambodia, Heng’s childhood was interrupted by war and the rise of the Khmer Rouge. After coming to power in 1975, its members began targeting groups including ethnic minorities and intellectuals. All told, the movement killed up to 3 million people and inflicted immeasurable suffering during its rule.

Heng’s father, a diplomat, managed to conceal his background until invading Vietnamese forces overthrew the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Amid a civil war, he began planning his family’s escape out of Cambodia. He kept most of the details to himself until it was time to go.

“One day, he told us to pack up our things and leave the house,” Heng recalled. “And he said, ‘But don’t take too much stuff.’ We had no clue where we were going.”

A month later, Heng, then 14, found herself in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodia border, walking for days on end alongside her two siblings and parents. She remembers being barefoot and hungry. Then came an interview with United Nations workers, who arranged for Heng’s family be resettled in the United States. But first, they would spend a year and a half in one of the many refugee camps dotting the Thai-Cambodian border, and another six months in a Philippines refugee center, where they were expected to learn English.

Vann Heng (back left) and her family, in 1982 after the family’s first year in Dayton, Ohio. (Courtesy of Vann Heng)

When they arrived in Ohio in 1981, they were greeted at the airport by their sponsors, a retired couple who had heard about the plight of Cambodian refugees at church. They opened their home to Heng’s family for their first nine months in the U.S.

“They were incredibly generous. To share your house with strangers — they must have had big hearts,” Heng said.

Looking out for others

These days, Heng and her team are continuing to pioneer the way advanced materials are manufactured. Heng says a recent “dream come true” was winning a U.S. Air Force research contract that enabled Boeing to work on advancing automated manufacturing and demonstrating its efficacy on large, complex contoured surfaces — not just simple-shape small coupons. With more near-term testing planned, new robotics could bring improvements in speed, quality, uniformity and reduced cost.

Vann Heng with an automated manufacturing demo of a large complex-shape ceramic component. (Boeing photo)

Heng is also passionate about mentorship, and often reflects on the lack of mentors early in her career.

“I never had a mentor that helped guide me through things,” she said. “I always had to figure things out on my own. It didn’t have to be that way. Things can be a lot easier if you have someone to work with that can inspire you.”

Sometimes, Heng says, mentorship can be as simple as helping new engineers see the importance of their work and its connection to Boeing’s programs, which may not always be evident.

“Not everyone explains the grand view to help them understand that what they do matters,” Heng said. “My job in working with young engineers is to help them understand the big picture first and how it boils down to what they’re doing. ‘Here is why your job is so important.’”

By Maks Goldenshteyn