• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2025

• Olin College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, ‘26

• Host Institution: K2 Space

• Mentor: TBD

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Pauline Petersen is a junior at Olin College of Engineering majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in entrepreneurship. She found her love of aviation and aerospace in high school, where she had the opportunity to get her Part 107 drone license. At Olin, she has been working on developing drone technology including an emergency parachute deployment system and a drone for warehouse fulfillment.

She is the project manager of the Aeronautical Engineering and Robotics team at Olin (AERO), a student-run project team designing an autonomous aircraft that can fly a 15-mile course over 30 minutes and accurately drop payloads. Pauline has helped grow the team, manage design reviews, and assist in the mechanical sub-team.

Outside of college, Pauline has been reimagining our future methods of transport. She worked on an in-air towing mechanism for electric aircraft at Magpie Aviation and then as an aircraft systems engineer at Wisk, helping to create autonomous air taxis.

For personal transportation, Pauline rides a unicycle to commute. She started a club at her college teaching other students how to ride, perform tricks, and play unicycle basketball. Pauline has also picked up sailing, climbing, and fire arts.

As a 2025 Brooke Owens Fellow, Pauline is looking forward to exploring the satellite sector as an avionics systems engineer at K2 Space. This rapidly growing start-up is focused on creating affordable mega-satellites. She can’t wait to meet all the other fellows and help advocate for more women in the aerospace field.