• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2023

• Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, Mechatronic Engineering, ‘23

• Host Institution: Zipline

• Mentor: José M. Hernández

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Alina was born in La Paz, Bolivia. She is currently studying mechatronics engineering at Vaughn College and has a background in physics. When she started exploring the STEM world, she fell in love with the aviation and aerospace fields. She was intrigued by the things one could find there. And at age 15, she officially began studying aviation to become a pilot.

From 2013 to 2017, she won gold and bronze medals in the Plurinational Student Scientific Olympiad in Physics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics and represented Bolivia in the OLAA. She was the first Bolivian to participate in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, in which she won first place with her team. She was named ambassador for Bolivia by the International Space Education Institute of Germany. She was awarded scholarships such as the National Youth Science Camp, the UWC, and the LALA Bootcamp, Wings Club, and International Aviation Womens Association. She was a speaker at two TEDx events in Bolivia in 2017 (TEDxUMSA and TEDxDonBosco) and gave numerous talks at conferences, colleges, and universities. She is the leader of the Rover Team Bolivia project and a pioneer in space competitions in Bolivia and her college. She is president of the SWE (Society of Women Engineers) club at her university and participated in the NASA L'SPACE Academy in 2020.

Eventually, she diverged into engineering, but her love for the sky and space never died. By studying at Vaughn, Alina realized that she could find a career path where she could combine what she likes with what is needed. So now, Alina wants to create technology that helps improve space exploration and aviation, makes it easier for people to contribute to these fields, and preserves what we have around us. Reduced CO2 emissions, for example, could make aerospace more environmentally friendly, improve reusable spacecraft, or lead to the development of energy-efficient airplanes.

Alina's goal is to create ways for more students to have the necessary opportunities to fulfill their dreams in scientific and technological areas. In addition, she works to motivate more women to enter these areas.