Stellar achievement
Estela Villacis selected for Brooke Owens Fellowship
Estela Villacis’ interest in aerospace began in middle school, when she marveled over the engineering behind her favorite science fiction movies, “Interstellar” and “The Martian.” Years later, Villacis, a first-generation undergraduate student from Brooklyn, New York, chose a career path that will allow her to “do those same things, but in real life instead of the movies.”
Now a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University, Villacis has been selected for the Brooke Owens Fellowship, a nationally-acclaimed nonprofit program established to help address the gender imbalance in the aerospace field. The program recognizes exceptional undergraduate women and other gender minorities with space and aviation internships, senior mentorship and an expansive professional network. Fellows are chosen through a competitive application process.
Villacis first heard about the fellowship while attending the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) STEM Summit, and she immediately knew it aligned with her career goals. After making it to the semifinalist round as a junior, she decided to try again this year. Her persistence paid off.
“This fellowship will give me valuable aerospace industry experience,” Villacis said. “It will also connect me with professionals from the industry working around the country, especially women and other minorities who have faced similar barriers.”
The industry experience is crucial to helping her further define her career goals.
“That experience is really what I’m missing,” she said. “I’ve done research before but not the two together. This will help me decide whether to go straight into aerospace industry or do more research.”
While at WashU, Villacis has taken advantage of the school’s undergraduate research opportunities. Last summer she worked alongside Phil Bayly, the Lee Hunter Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, through the Washington University Summer Engineering Fellowship (WUSEF).
She’s also made an impact outside of the school’s academic spaces, as president of WURocketry and as a peer mentor for other underrepresented students.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in May, Villacis will start a 12-week internship at Relativity Space, the commercial launch company with which she matched through the fellowship, in Long Beach, California. She hopes to return to WashU in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
“I’m excited for what’s ahead,” Villacis said. “In a field where many do not look like me, I aspire to break the boundaries of Latinos in STEM.”
