Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

Growing up in Florida, I had a unique opportunity to grow my interest in space at a young age. I visited the Kennedy Space Center multiple times through school field trips and have been fortunate enough to watch a couple rocket launches. My passion for STEM really took off in high school when I joined a FIRST FRC robotics team, Botcats Team 3653, where I eventually became the project manager and CAD lead in my senior year. This experience solidified my love for engineering and led me to pursue a dual degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Florida (UF), Go Gators! During my time at UF, I was heavily involved in the Swamp Launch Rocket Team, where I served as president in my senior year. In my undergraduate career, I also mentored a FIRST FRC team, known as Roaring Riptide Team 4118. It was the first time I was in the mentorship position, and it felt so rewarding giving back to the STEM community that had given me so much. My internships at Pratt & Whitney, working on the combustor of the F135 engine, and at SpaceX, focusing on space laser technology for Starlink, shaped my career aspirations. Now, I’m a second-year PhD student in mechanical engineering at Purdue University (Boiler Up!) conducting research as part of the Advanced Diagnostics and Propulsion Research Laboratory under Dr. Terrence Meyer at Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, the largest academic propulsion lab in the world! I study multiphase injection in rotating detonation engines (RDE) and design varying injector geometry, with the goal of rapid atomization and mixing, to evaluate its effects on engine performance and detonation wave characteristics.

What do you most enjoy about your current position?

What I enjoy most about my current position is that I get to do something I love every day, surrounded by a community of people who share my passion for propulsion and rocket engines. Being part of a group of such smart, talented, and dedicated individuals is incredibly fulfilling. I’m especially inspired by seeing fellow women engineers excel in this field, which motivates me even more.

 

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

I went to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in neuroengineering. With this, I got my first job after graduation at Epic Systems, a healthcare software company based in Verona, Wisconsin. I currently work in a healthcare IT role where I support multiple hospital organisations in optimising their instances of Epic's software on the Clinical Documentation application.

What do you most enjoy about your current position?

I enjoy learning about the inner workings of hospital structures. I've never really thought about how hospitals function outside of a patient perspective so it's very interesting meeting with hospital leadership and learning about their ideas of improving patient care in their organizations. It's been very eye-opening.

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

Growing up, my parents worked for the local county school district. My mom was a literacy interventionist, and my dad a school psychologist. Neither of them were very science, math, or engineering oriented, but they were (and still are) creatively-minded. In public school, I always excelled more in math. I ended up going to a technical public high-school where I could take career-centered courses alongside my requirements for graduation. There was a pre-engineering academy at the school but I knew I was more interested in technology, so I was in the Information Technology HW academy. I took courses such as Networking and Computer Engineering where I got to learn about computers. I ended up liking it, but knew I wasn't crazy about coding, so I pursued a degree in Electrical Engineering at BYU-I. BYU-I is accredited, and even though it's not known as a "prestigious" or "competitive" school, it still was a very rigorous degree because the semesters are split into 3 semesters, 14 weeks each, and I had only 1 credit to do whatever I wanted with. Every other credit in my 120-credit degree had something to do with E.E. Thankfully I made it through with decent grades, and had a good internship at Raytheon Missiles and Defense (in AZ) that helped me launch my career in Firmware/FPGA design. I wanted to move back to my home state of NC so I got a job that moved me. I currently work for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy as an FPGA Design Engineer. I also have my Scrum Master certification for Agile Scrum.

*An FPGA design engineer is an electrical engineer who specializes in the design development and application of FPGAs - Field Programmable Gate Arrays. FPGAs are special digital integrated circuits. Their main advantage is that they can be programmed and reprogrammed to perform different tasks. 
 

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

I joined engineering later in life - ten years after graduating with other degrees, after getting married, after having my daughter. My first job was testing rocket engines and now I am testing USAF'S new trainer jet.

What do you most enjoy about your current position?

Testing. I love seeing problems and working through to solutions. 

 

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

Caltech senior pursuing a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Business, Economics, and Management with a minor in Aerospace Engineering. At Caltech, works with the Fluid Mechanics and Thermosciences group at GALCIT, publishing research on physics-informed machine learning and experimental and computational aerodynamics, with applications acquired by Boeing. 

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

The short version: I'm from a small town in Michigan! I graduated the first time around with a B.S. in Aviation. I started my career in the Aviation industry working for a cargo airliner and learning to fly planes. When the Commercial Space Industry started to ramp up, I opted to go back to school for a second B.S. in space Flight Operations & Human Factors. I was accepted into the Brooke Ownes Fellowship during this time and held an internship working on the Stratolanch aircraft.

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now? 

I got my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico, and now I'm working as a research assistant and graduate student at Purdue University. I have just finished my first year of graduate school and I'm working on a project testing refrigerant flammability. Additionally, I work as a virtual intern for a national laboratory helping with research and development efforts!

Read More

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a first generation graduate that studied Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. I am currently an Aeronautical and Astronautical Structures Engineer.  

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a first generation graduate that studied Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. I am currently an Aeronautical and Astronautical Structures Engineer. 

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now? 

My bachelor's is in Chemical Engineering with minors in computer science and managerial economics. I interned at an air quality district during college and after graduation, I got hired by an environmental consulting company. And I'm still there 15+ years later. I have mostly worked with air quality and compliance and my career niche turned into working with environmental management systems and data that is used for compliance reporting.

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now?

I am Masters student in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University studying propulsion. I am currently at Zucrow Labs researching Rotating Detonation Rocket Engines.

How did you become interested in STEM?

My mom got me interested in the STEM field at a young age through coding and art camps!

What is one piece of advice you wish you had received when you were just starting out?

Follow your gut feeling and find people in your life that encourage you to keep going and try new things.

Read More

Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you do now? 

I am an Optical Engineer working in the aerospace industry.

How did you become interested in STEM?

Funny enough, through art. My mom is an artist (and very talented author) who encouraged me to think creatively. I think that tied in really well to the kind of problem-solving required in engineering. When I got to high school, I joined the FIRST Robotics Club and got to speak with and shadow real engineers.

 

Read More