What is your next adventure? I am going to join Northrop Grumman through their Future Technical Leaders program, which will give me a chance to work in different parts of the company over the next three years. My first rotation is in Atlanta, in their Health IT division, where I'll be working with the CDC. I know - it's not AE. Part of the program's intent is to get us out of our comfort zones. My other rotations will probably be in Florida, working on aircraft, and San Diego, working on un-manned systems.

What are you most looking forward to in your next adventure?  I look forward to being completely out of my comfort zone. This is going to be a huge learning experience. And that's why I went to graduate school: to learn how to learn better. I'm excited to be able to live in Atlanta and not be a student at Tech. I'm curious about experiencing the city as a real resident. I think it will be fun. I'm also excited to meet the PhDs and masters students in the program I'm in; they'll be from all over the country.

Did you have any previous co-op, internship, or research experience that helped prepare you in this area? As an undergraduate I did a Grand Challenge project with ASDL. We worked with Dassault Systemes on a project to increase the number of electric aircraft. As a graduate student, I worked with Dr. Olivia Pinon Fischer, in ASDL, on research that focused on the Boeing space launch system. Last summer, I interned with Northrop Grumman in San Diego, where we worked on the X-47B, a Navy aircraft that can land and take off automatically.

What about your educational experience at GT-AE helped your to achieve your goals?  I would say that Georgia Tech, through the Society of Women Engineers, gave me confidence to pursue my education through graduate school and to go after the internship and leadership program at Northrop Grumman. I got my internship through SWE and that led to everything else.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to follow in your path?  I'd say find what you are passionate about, and then really pour some time and effort into it. The more you put in at Tech, the more you get out. Through SWE, I got a chance to explore different options, and that helped.