Mechanical Engineering junior named Brooke Owens Fellow

Ava Schwarz, a Yale Engineering junior studying mechanical engineering, has been selected as a member of the Brooke Owens Fellowship Class of 2026.

The Brooke Owens Fellowship is a nationally acclaimed, highly competitive program that recognizes exceptional undergraduate women and gender minorities pursuing careers in space and aviation. Fellows are selected through a rigorous process that includes technical and creative submissions and interviews with fellowship leadership and representatives from leading aerospace companies. This year's class of 28 fellows was chosen from more than 400 applicants.

As part of the fellowship, Schwarz will intern this summer at SpaceX in Starbase, Texas, where she will work on structural design for the Starship Super Heavy booster. She will also be paired with an executive-level mentor and a Brooke Owens alumni mentor and will attend the annual Brooke Owens Fellowship Summit in San Francisco this summer. Fellows join a lifelong professional network of more than 350 alumni across all sectors of the aerospace industry.

Schwarz is co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA) and has been involved with Project Liquid, a YUAA initiative to develop and launch a bipropellant, regeneratively-cooled liquid rocket. Her previous industry experience includes an internship with Firefly Aerospace, where she worked on the Blue Ghost lunar lander and transfer vehicles, as well as the construction of a 2U CubeSat designed to study atmospheric radiation.

The Brooke Owens Fellowship was founded in 2016 in memory of D. Brooke Owens, an aerospace industry pioneer and accomplished pilot.