Two AAE undergrads will receive paid summer internships under the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Amy Comeau and Ana Paula Pineda Bosque were 2 of approximately 30 women selected from across the country. Both students were recommended for the program by AAE Visiting Assistant Professor Sarag Saikia.

The program was established to honor the legacy of Dawn Brooke Owens (1980-2016), a space industry pioneer and accomplished pilot. Owens was an alumna of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the International Space University. She worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the non-profit XPRIZE Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 35 after a long battle with cancer. The fellowships offered through the program are open to women seeking an undergraduate degree in any field, as long as they intend to pursue a full-time career related to aviation or aerospace.

Comeau will spend the summer working for The Tauri Group Space and Technology, LLC in Washington, D.C. She says she is honored to carry on the legacy of Brooke Owens.

“This is a once in a lifetime chance to gain invaluable internship experience, meet prominent aerospace industry members, and meet other passionate women selected from across the country,” says Comeau.

Pineda Bosque will be working for Orbital ATK this summer in either Dulles, VA or Gilbert, AZ. She says she is incredibly grateful to have been selected for the program.

“It means I've joined a community of incredibly hard working people who have defined success as helping others,” says Pineda Bosque. “The life of Brooke Owens has been an inspiration in the way which she didn't let life circumstances stop her from using her successful career to benefit her community and touch people's lives.”

Along with a paid summer internship, the program provides two mentors provides two mentors for each fellow -  an on-site mentor at their internship host institution, plus a second mentor working elsewhere in the industry. All Brooke Owens Fellows will also attend the annual “Brooke Owens Fellowship Conference” in the middle of the summer co-located with the Future Space Leaders Conference.

top photo: Amy Comeau
bottom photo: Ana Paula Pineda Bosque