Connor Johnson

Johnson, a third-year student from Midlothian, Virginia, will head to Firefly Aerospace this summer for his internship and focus on propulsion engineering, specifically on their future launch vehicles and scaling up their engine sizes.  He will be paired with a mentor in the coming weeks as a part of the award but will be working for Merritt D'Elia, who is working on some of the new rocket engine hardware for their future launch vehicles.

“I’m super excited about this opportunity. I'm also looking forward to the summit in Los Angeles, where all the mentors and fellows come together. Networking is a great part of this award. We made a Slack channel to meet other 2024 fellows, so we’re already making connections,” Johnson shared.

He knew that he wanted to go into aerospace at an early age. His parents, chemical engineers, and their NASA friends gave him plenty of advice about getting involved in the aerospace community.

“I grew up in Houston, and many of my friend's parents worked at NASA. I heard so many cool things about space and rockets. I watched Space Shuttle launches on TV as a normal activity,” Johnson said. “I've been to Mission Control multiple times because I was so close. Growing up in that environment, I was exposed to space at a young age. I loved it and haven’t changed my mind.”

Johnson, the co-president of the Georgia Tech Experimental Rocketry (GTXR) group, is also a part of the BS/MS program and will start his master's degree in 2025. He plans to pursue a career focused on rocket engines.

Sabrina Mayor

Sabrina Mayor, also a third-year undergraduate, will land at Blue Origin in Van Horn, Texas, as a fluid systems intern for the Testing and Flight Operations department, working on propulsion systems. She hasn't been assigned to a specific team yet, but she'll be hands-on with their vehicles' propulsion systems.

“I was honored to receive this award. I couldn’t believe it. I’m really looking forward to learning from and working with other people who have a passion for space exploration like me,” Mayor explained.

The Edison, New Jersey native is a busy bee currently interning at Stoke in Moses Lake, Washington, working on their novel second-stage engine design. She will be there until the end of April.

Mayor excelled in math and science in school and was drawn to engineering. Her dad, an electrical engineer, also exposed her to the field. She remembers seeing work on his laptop and thinking it was cool.  Ironically, she became interested in aerospace in her high school history class. While she always thought the stars and beyond were beautiful, it was the rapid technological advancements and national morale of the Space Race during the Cold War era that truly inspired her.

“I was impressed by what we accomplished in space exploration during that time and the great sense of national pride centered around aerospace,” she shared, “From then on, I wanted to be a part of space history by improving the ways we get there.”

Her passion lies in propulsion systems. She spends much of her time in the High-Power Electric Propulsion Lab (HPEPL) and with GTXR as a responsible engineer on the propulsion team. She was also a former president of the Ramblin' Rocket Club. Mayor is unsure where her future lies in the space industry, but she knows she wants to work on advanced propulsion systems and can’t wait to see where that will take her.