Claire Thomas

• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2020

• Colorado School of Mines, Mechanical Engineering, ‘20

• Host Institution: Made In Space

• Mentor: Nicole Stott

Claire is a Senior in Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (Mines). During an extremely nontraditional high schooling and a lot of mishaps, Claire found her passion for space. From there she attended Houston Community College for a year, then transferred to Mines with every intention of pursuing Biochemical Engineering and Mathematics.

After beginning at Mines she became heavily involved with the campus makerspace influencing her to change her major to Mechanical Engineering. In her second year at Mines, Claire led a group partnering with Magic Wheelchair to do a build for them, and as of now, this project has run for two years with plans for a third underway. Nearing the beginning of her third year at Mines, Claire interned at a startup called Lunar Outpost where she had her first opportunity to work on a project that will likely one day be on the moon. Form there, Claire has made it her mission to not only pursue aerospace herself but to inspire other younger girls and boys to do the same.

Always an active person, in her free time Claire likes to practice 1- and 3-meter springboard diving, go hiking, skiing, and pretty much whatever else that gets her outside.

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, she looks forward to interning at Made in Space in the summer of 2020.