• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2021

• University of University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Systems Engineering and Design '22

• Host Institution: Lockheed Martin

• Mentor: Debra Facktor

• Brookie Mentor: Ivy Christensen

Kinga Wrobel was born in a rural village near Elk, Poland. Even as a little girl, her curiosity always kept her yearning to learn new things and one day discover more of the unknown. Her interest in creating and inventing new things led her to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) where is she is majoring in Systems Engineering and Design. She is the first female engineer in her family, and the first to be pursuing a career in the aerospace industry.

Kinga has previously worked on several mechanical design and engineering projects in the Eco Illini Supermileage Club, where she worked with the team to design components and construction of the chassis for a maximally efficient gasoline engine prototype car. She also worked on designing custom automation assemblies for high-precision CNC machines, and developed a custom laser engraving system at Sunlight-Tech during the summer of her freshman year of college. These experiences influenced her to pursue undergraduate research with the Engineering Systems Design Lab at UIUC, where she developed a One-Dimensional Testbed for Attitude Control Studies. She successfully published and presented her work at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) in Fall 2020. Through the ESDL and her research project, she became heavily involved in the aerospace industry, and fell in love with space exploration. She became determined to use her skills to create new technology for deeper space exploration.

Her passion in space exploration led her to a Systems Engineering Internship at NASA Headquarters during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 sessions where she is developing a NASA Systems Engineering Processes tutorial that will aide future NASA interns and staff. She is conducting interviews with seasoned NASA engineers and scientists involved with Parker Solar Probe to gain detailed insight into the NASA Systems Engineering Process. By analyzing Parker’s trade studies, instrument development and integration, Lifecycle Reviews, etc. she is learning what it takes to be a successful Systems Engineer.

During her free time, Kinga loves to craft and paint as well as travel, play soccer, unicycle, and jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Kinga will be interning with Lockheed Martin in the Advanced Programs Division. She is excited to feed her curiosity and contribute to the discovery of the unknown.