• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2025

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aerospace Engineering, ‘26

• Host Institution: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

• Mentor: TBD

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Emily Albornoz is a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy. She is excited to intern at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California this summer.

Emily has fueled her passion for aerospace engineering by participating in various project teams at MIT. On the MIT Rocket Team, she worked as a structural engineer, designing and manufacturing a two-stage solid propellant rocket that successfully launched in the Mojave Desert. She also worked on the MIT WORMS project, a reconfigurable autonomous robot designed for lunar terrain exploration.

Emily has developed her interest in astrophysics by conducting research on high-redshift quasars in the MIT Kavli Institute and by taking classes in observational astronomy and cosmology. She also traveled to the Teide Observatory in the Canary Islands to conduct research on brown dwarfs and exoplanets as part of MIT’s Astronomy Field Camp.

In her future career, Emily aspires to develop science instrument payloads for space telescope missions, enabling her to combine her skills in aerospace engineering and astrophysics. She is excited about developing spacecraft that can collect science data to help us study our universe.

In her free time, Emily enjoys playing guitar in the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and playing soccer with friends.