Amanda is a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, double majoring in Economics and Astronomy (Space Science). 

As a life long space lover, Amanda is actively working towards a career that will allow her to merge her interests of space and economics. This summer, Amanda will be Voyager Space Holdings as a part of the class of 2022 Brooke Owens Fellows. 

She is excited about space and her goal is to spark some excitement in someone else! 

Amanda is a 19 year old Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, born and raised in the island. 

She is passionate about aerospace, aviation and biotechnology and hopes to minor in aerospace. 

Her main interests are in manufacturing and design. She is a 2021 Patti Grace Smith Fellow and interned at ABL Space Systems during summer 2021. 

Catherine “Cat” Santos is a student pursuing her 2nd bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Arizona State University. 

She currently holds a BFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She hopes to become a design engineer, and integrate her background in art and design with her interest in spacecraft engineering. 

Emma Louden is an astrophysicist and space entrepreneur on a mission to help people find their place in space.  

She works at the intersection of academia and the space industry and is a strategic thinker and leader who is passionate about being a steward of the story of the relationship between space exploration and humanity. 

As an astrophysics Ph.D. student at Yale University, Emma studies the geometry of exoplanetary systems. Emma uses the kind of thinking spurred by this inquiry to help humanity develop a consciousness that puts the Solar System in context—Earth’s precarious position in the universe becomes clearer. 

Jennifer is a final year mechanical engineering student from New Zealand with a passion for the pairing of tech innovation and sustainability. 

She has had internship roles with New Zealand aerospace companies such as Rocket Lab and Kea Aerospace, as well as working both in engineering and sustainability roles for Halter, one of New Zealand’s leading tech startups. 

Outside of technical engineering, She has also been elected onto her university’s students association, served as a mentor for first-year engineering students and assisted in research both in space and environmental justice policy. 

She is a Class of 2022 Brooke Owens Fellow and is so excited to come to the US this summer to work for Space Capital in New York! 

Leslie Baker Lyon is a recent graduate with a mechanical engineering degree from Portland State University. 

Leslie is a Brooke Owens Fellow and, in 2022 received a NASA UTEAP grant for their work on a rocket recovery system that will deploy in space. In 2019, Leslie received the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium scholarship and served as a NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. There, they worked on a Mars rover building competition. In 2020, Leslie was asked to return to Ames as a Community College Aerospace Scholars Student Mentor, providing support and guidance to students and encouraging them to continue pursuing careers in aerospace. 

Outside of STEM studies, Leslie has been spending their quarantine rebuilding a motorcycle from the frame up, and has been remotely interning with NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. They are also the guitarist in Portland queercore band Creature to Creature. 

Over the long term, Leslie looks forward to dedicating their career to championing underrepresented people in STEM and using engineering to support people and the planet. 

Manmeet (Shabri) Pelia is a second class cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, majoring in electrical and computer engineering and minoring in Arabic. Cadet Pelia is the Principal Investigator for the NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience Academy Summer 2021 team, Solar Chargers. This team won $10k from NASA’s Early Stage Innovation fund to research perovskite solar cells and their production via electrospray. 

She has also had extensive experience in electrical engineering/space research and is trained to operate USAFA’s Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope and as a Ground Station Operator for FalconSAT-8. Academically, Cadet Pelia was recognized as a Stamps Leader-Scholar and Brooke Owens Fellow. 

Cadet Pelia can speak 5 languages (English, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi, and Arabic) and loves to cook and eat food from around the world! After graduation, she hopes to serve as a pilot for the United States Air Force.

Nandini Sadagopan is a rising fifth year undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame studying Aerospace Engineering and Physics with a concentration in Astrophysics.  

She is passionate about all areas of space exploration, and specifically wants to pursue a career building astronomical instruments for outer planet and icy moon research.  Over the past few years, she's gotten experience in several areas of the space industry through internships at a turbomachinery test facility (Notre Dame Turbomachinery Lab) a satellite servicing company (Orbit Fab) and a launch vehicle company (SpaceX)!  

At school, she serves as a lead on the rocketry team, acts with the Shakespeare club, and occasionally directs plays! 

Nina Arcot is currently a master's student at Princeton University, studying mechanical and aerospace engineering with a focus in materials science. 

After graduating in May 2022, she will return to her job at Northrop Grumman Space Systems, where she works on small satellites as a Flight Assurance Engineer. Her professional interests lie at the intersection of materials science and spacecraft, and she is also interested in space-based research and manufacturing. 

Initially from northern New Jersey, Nina's passions include STEM outreach, music, and watching sports.

Patricia is graduating from the University of California, Davis with her BS in Aerospace Engineering this spring. 

She was part of the inaugural class of 2021 for the Zed Factor Fellowship where she interned at Wisk Aero and will be returning to Wisk upon graduation to start her career. 

She loves space exploration, flight, and giving back to the community that helped make her dreams become reality. 

Ad Astra!