• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2023

• New Jersey Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, ‘24

• Host Institution: Northrop Grumman

• Mentor: Daniel Dumbacher

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Olivia Kolakowski is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Her passion for human spaceflight began nearly three years ago after watching Scott Kelly’s documentary “A Year in Space.” She quickly found herself endlessly watching videos about daily life on the International Space Station (ISS) and reading several books by astronauts sharing their experiences in the aerospace industry. Coincidently, Olivia discovered this new interest shortly before SpaceX’s first crewed launch of astronauts to the ISS. The intersection of private companies and government agencies working together to propel human spaceflight forward fascinated her. This shift in the industry and new era of commercial space travel inspired Olivia to switch gears in her engineering journey and explore all that a career in the aerospace field had to offer.

At the start of high school, Olivia always considered engineering as a potential career option given her interest in math and science. Specifically, she knew she wanted to work in a field where there was direct human application, which led her to the biomedical industry. Olivia’s first internship was at Stryker Corporation where she was an Advanced Technology Engineering Intern. Over the course of this internship, she had the opportunity to learn about the material science in hip and knee implants. In order to gain experience in the aerospace industry, she most recently worked at American Products Company. This internship exposed her to manufacturing, design, and engineering management within the aerospace sector.

Olivia has since shared her experiences working in the biomedical and aerospace industry as a college mentor for Engineering Tomorrow which aims to encourage middle and high school students to pursue careers in STEM. She especially enjoys presenting topics and assisting students with labs related to space and flight. At NJIT, she is involved in her university’s Society of Women Engineers chapter and will be working as the club’s treasurer for the spring 2023 semester.

During her free time, Olivia loves traveling and spending all the time she can outdoors by going on long walks and bike rides. As a Brooke Owens fellow, Olivia will be spending her summer interning at Northrop Grumman.