Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. Awards Four Outstanding Engineering Students the Women in Research and Engineering Development (WiRED) Scholarship
The Women in Research and Engineering Development (WiRED) program at Emergent Space Technologies, Inc., seeks to promote the retention of women undergraduate students in aerospace engineering and related fields of study, to incentivize them to complete their degree, and to identify, train and recruit bright women engineers as potential future hires for our company. We hope to achieve these goals through two separate components of the program: a scholarship awarded to qualifying women at the start of their Junior year of their undergraduate education and a paid summer internship at an Emergent facility awarded to qualifying women who have completed their Junior year of their aerospace engineering degree. Our 2020 WiRED Scholarship recipients, listed below, will each receive a $1,000 stipend.
Mallika Misra
Mallika is an Aerospace Engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is working toward her concurrent BS/MS degree in Aerospace Engineering. Her involvements on campus include leading the student chapter of the American Institute for Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA), assisting with STEM outreach programs, and participating in model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and propulsion research through the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL). She is currently working on researching and developing a compact S-Duct inlet for the JetCat P100-RX. Outside of school, Mallika is passionate about fitness, traveling, and playing the violin.
Rachel Penner
Rachel is a junior at the University of Oklahoma studying Engineering Physics with an Aerospace Engineering specialization and double minors in Math and History. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Rachel has been fascinated with space and the spirit of space exploration since she was a small child. She interned with NASA in high school and just finished an internship in systems engineering at Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Azusa, CA. At OU, Rachel is the secretary for the Society of Women Engineers and the Vice President (and a founding member) of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. She has worked as an undergraduate research assistant developing shape-memory composites for solar sails and is also an officer in her sorority, Alpha Sigma Kappa. In her free time, Rachel enjoys yoga, tennis, hiking, and baking cookies!
Lauren Sawyer
Lauren is from Fairfax, Virginia, and is currently studying aerospace engineering at Penn State University, with a minor in marine sciences. She is entering her junior year of study, having just taken a semester abroad in the Spring of 2020 to study marine sciences in Southampton, England. Lauren is very interested both the fluid dynamics and acoustics fields of aerospace engineering. She is hoping to use her education to work in marine engineering, either to build UAVs and improve the autonomous technology or to work in the renewable energy fields of wind or tidal farms. Ms. Sawyer is an avid environmentalist and hopes to use her education to contribute to a healthier planet. In her spare time, Lauren loves to stay active by swimming, hiking with her dog, or doing yoga. She enjoys balancing her studies with both baking sweet treats for her roommates and reading classic novels.
Lily Allen
Lily Allen is a junior at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering and is supplementing her degree with Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology courses. Her love for Marvel superheroes has influenced her to want to be a 'Space Doctor' (like one of her favorites, Doctor Strange). In the field, it may be formally known as a flight surgeon. She is currently working on a NASA funded project that assesses bacterial and fungal growth dynamics under various simulated gravities (micro-, lunar, and Martian gravity) using clinostats. The project will also explore the minimum amount of antibiotic needed to inhibit bacterial growth at these various simulated gravities (minimum inhibitory concentration or MIC). Lily would like to one day be an astronaut. In her spare time, she loves to draw, hike, run, hang out with friends and family, and jam out to One Direction.
“Emergent is committed to the academic success of women in aerospace engineering programs and we are impressed by the creative applications and strong academic records of this year’s award recipients. Emergent recognizes strength in diversity and we know that having diverse teams leads to better solutions for our customers. We hope this award encourages these women to continue pursuing their academic and professional goals in the aerospace industry and that they emerge as inspirational leaders for the next generation of aerospace engineers.” said Jaime Kline, Director of Technical Services.