DIANA ALSINDY

• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2017

• UC San Diego, Chemical Engineering ‘17

• Host Institution: Virgin Orbit

• Mentor: Scott Paraznyski

Diana Alsindy is a Propulsion Development Engineer at Virgin Orbit. She is part of a team that is responsible for LanuncherOne’s Stage Systems design, operation, and testing. She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (2017) from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

Originally from Baghdad, Diana is an Iraqi immigrant who has been passionate about engineering since she was 10 years old, watching her grandfather weld metal plates in a small machine shop in the backyard of their home in Baghdad. Before enrolling at UCSD, Diana earned an Associates Degree in Physics, Mathematics, and Science. At UCSD, she was the Propulsion Team Lead for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). She was heavily involved in NASA’s CubeQuest Challenge in designing a 6U Cubic Satellite with propellant feed system, powered by a monopropellant engine. She was named a Gordon Engineering Leadership Fellow and was awarded the Bahat Family Alumni Leadership Scholarship, the GKN Aerospace Chemtronics Scholarship, and the Osher Foundation Scholarship. She also became a Brooke Owens Fellow in 2017.

In October 2018, Diana founded @TheArabianStargazer; a bilingual Instagram page that promotes STEM to the Arab youth all around the world. The page includes videos, pictures, and riddles about subjects such as “Why should I be an Engineer?” and “How does Space Exploration help us here on Earth?” The page includes weekly series such as “Badass Women Tuesday” or “Unforgettable Achievements in Space Flight Sunday”. She aspires to engage the young Middle Eastern community with public figures and knowledge that will expand their horizons that they were not able to achieve through the limited resources in the Middle East.