The Zed Factor Fellowship, an award-winning non-profit organization dedicated to providing access to the aerospace industry to aspiring professionals from underrepresented communities, launches its Class of 2022 Fall Fellows to become the next leaders of the aerospace industry. 

The selection committee is highly impressed with all Fellows’ passion for aerospace, dedication to community engagement, and desire to inspire all to achieve their dreams. The Fall Class of 2022 will continue the founder’s vision to set forth an aerospace industry composed of people of all backgrounds, creating a more inclusive, well-rounded, and ultimately more impactful and effective nation and world. Each Fellow not only demonstrates impressive technical and leadership capabilities but will also conduct a customized community engagement project that will bring together their passion for industry and their communities and expand the impact of the program far and wide. 

The Zed Factor Fellowship received nearly 200 applications from over 100 academic institutions, ultimately selecting 5 fall fellows through a rigorous selection process. All Zed Factor Fellows are placed in either a summer or fall internship program and will develop their community engagement project in the 2022-2023 academic year. All fall fellows participated in all summer events including the Zed Factor Fellowship Leadership Summit.

The Fall Class of 2022 have already started their internship experiences and are eager to develop their community engagement projects. They will be matched with both an executive mentor and near-peer mentor to guide them through their budding careers and attend a flagship Zed Factor Leadership Summit to strengthen their abilities.

The Zed Factor Class of 2022 Summer Fellows:

• Abigail Rajagopal, Texas A&M University, Aerospace Engineering ‘24. Abigail will work for Starfish Space.

• Catherine Dominic, University of Texas at Austin, Aerospace Engineering + Innovation, Creativity Entrepreneurship ‘23. Catherine will work for Relativity Space.

• David Villahermosa, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Industrial Engineering ‘24. David will work for Venturi Astrolab.

• Peter Santana, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Computer Science and Engineering Astrophysics and Astronomy ‘23. Peter will work for Umbra.

• Yulissa Cantero, Princeton University, Mechanical Engineering ‘22. Yulissa will work for Aurelia Institute.

The Zed Factor Fellowship is now accepting new host companies for the Class of 2023! To learn more about the Zed Factor Fellowship or to apply to be a 2023 Fellow or 2023 host company, please contact: info@zedfactorfellowship.org