• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2022

• The Pennsylvania State University, Aerospace Engineering, ‘23

• Host Institution: Maxar Technologies

• Executive Mentor: Alinda Mashiku

• Brookie Mentor: Estefania Castillo Villarreal

Mya Guillaume is a Junior at The Pennsylvania State University studying Aerospace Engineering. She was born and raised in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and will graduate as the first female engineer in her family alongside ten siblings.

Mya has always excelled in math from a young age and grew up going to many airshows, falling in love with aircrafts. STEM was an obvious choice for her and the idea of studying aerospace engineering really came to be once she realized the deep curiosity that came with space exploration. Not many people wonder about space and let it get past a simple thought, but Mya chose to dedicate her career to exploring all of her questions first hand, a job she knows she will love for the rest of her life.

Mya was recognized in the inaugural class of Patti Grace Smith fellows in 2021, a fellowship empowering and supporting young black excellence within aerospace. Last year as one of 43 undergraduates selected, she was given the opportunity to intern with Maxar Technologies where she will be returning once again this summer.

Mya was able to meet the first Black American astronaut, Guion S. Bluford, who had received his undergraduate aerospace engineering degree from Penn State and could share first hand experiences from all parts of the industry with Mya. In her free time, Mya loves to travel and hopes that one day she will be able to combine her love of adventuring with her love of engineering and truly make a difference. She aims to help space exploration become more accessible for people everywhere while continuing to preserve our world while exploring any others out there.