• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2024

• Howard University, Computer Engineering, ‘24

• Host Institution: BryceTech

• Mentor: Debra Facktor

• Brookie Mentor: Liz Karagiannes

Autumn Edwards is a graduating senior computer engineering student with a minor in mathematics at Howard University. Her time at Howard has been life changing in part due to her selection as a member of the Karsh STEM Scholars Program; a program whose mission is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who earn a PhD in a STEM discipline. Through Karsh, Ms. Edwards has built a network of determined undergraduate students and alumni that are in STEM academia who continually challenge her thinking. Having this small community within the greater Howard community has perfectly cultivated her HBCU experience.

Since her freshman year Ms. Edwards has sought opportunities where she could contribute to research focused on space applications. While her general interests lie in autonomous systems and aero robotics she has worked on a number of projects touching various sectors of space. During her junior year she worked as a member of the Aerospace Corporation’s capstone project which focused on creating a proof of concept for an autonomous system that collects space junk. Through this experience Ms. Edwards was completely immersed in the product design process. Last summer, Ms. Edwards had the opportunity to work as an undergraduate research assistant as a part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Summer Research Program. She worked in the Space Telecommunications Astronomy Radiation Lab for the summer where her project focused on BeaverCube-2, a cube satellite mission with a goal of observing oceanic fronts, where she learned the intricacies of small satellite communications.

Outside of research, Autumn serves as a Howard University Student Association Senator where she represents the College of Engineering and Architecture. She serves as a member of the senate finance committee where she assists the chair with the distribution of over a quarter of a million dollar student activity fee fund. She hopes to create a more equitable distribution process that diversifies the student organizations that apply for and are granted funds.

Autumn is a firm believer in the importance of STEM outreach programs and recognizes that without her early exposure to STEM through initiatives such as Girls in STEM Day she would not be here today. She has made it a priority to give back in this capacity starting her freshman and sophomore years where she volunteered as a MathCounts Mentor with the National Society of Black Engineers. Ms. Edwards coached a group of middle school students to compete in various individual and group math competitions. In addition to competition prep, her work focused on motivating the students to have positive outlooks about math. Autumn currently works as a Petey Greene tutor where once a week she visits the Maya Angelou Youth Services Center, an alternative school within the DC youth detention facility. As a math and reading coach for incarcerated youth in Washington DC she works to build relationships with students, making the content relevant and relatable.

As a 2024 Brooke Owens Fellow Autumn looks forward to joining the tight knit group of Brookies who are taking the world by storm. She is excited to join BryceTech this summer as an intern in their data analytics department.