• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2024

• Princeton University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, ‘25

• Host Institution: Zipline

• Mentor: Jose Hernandez

• Brookie Mentor: Simran Dhoju

Mariko Storey-Matsutani is a junior at Princeton University pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering, with minors in Robotics and Intelligent Systems, and Applications of Computing.

Mariko grew up in Canada, Hawai’i and Japan, where she spent countless nights stargazing all around the world and dreaming about the wonders of space exploration. Combined with her desire to make a positive impact on the world, she strives to advance the intersection of sustainability and aerospace engineering, an interest that has been fueled by her previous work on electric aviation and microplastic filtration projects.

At Princeton, Mariko has continually followed her passion for mechanical design, robotics, sustainability, and aerospace engineering through her extracurricular and academic involvements. In her first and second year, she was awarded the prestigious Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence, which recognizes the top 3% of the freshman and sophomore class. Seeking to combine her interests in robotics and space, she co-founded and serves as the current president of Princeton’s first autonomous Mars rover team. Outside of school, she works as an engineering fellow with Princeton-based start-up Polygone Systems to develop bio-inspired filtration systems for microplastic pollution filtration.

In 2023, Mariko was selected as a Zenith Canada Pathways Fellow and one of just eight Zenith interns. As an aerospace engineering intern at the Canadian Space Mining Corporation, she had the opportunity to contribute to projects ranging from lunar prospecting to space medicine capsules.

Apart from her academic and professional pursuits, Mariko spends her free time exploring her favorite hikes, trying her hand at new recipes, and going to BodyPump/cycle fitness classes.

Mariko is so grateful to be named a Brooke Owens Fellow and strives to deepen her knowledge and experience in the aerospace sector while tackling challenging engineering tasks. She is beyond excited to be interning at Zipline this summer as a Mechanical Engineering Intern on the System Test team.