• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2021

• University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, B.S. Mechanical Engineering, ‘24

• Host Institution: Northrop Grumman

• Mentor: Kristin White

• Brookie Mentor: Eva Reiling

Rut Santana is a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus in search of becoming a mechanical engineer with the goal of being the first Puerto Rican female astronaut of her generation. As an engineer and astronaut, she hopes to revolutionize the world of space exploration and inspire future generations into pursuing their dreams. Over the years, her aptitude and perseverance in said pursuit have allowed her to tap into different areas of study.

From a very young age, Rut was enthralled by STEM-oriented activities, as following the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics could open doors related to the goals that she had set herself throughout her life. For this reason, from her first year in college, she started getting involved in different extracurricular activities, such as becoming a member of SEDS-UPRM. In this organization, Rut was able to cultivate and share her passion for space by participating in outreach activities, like the Puerto Rican Space Exploration Festival, and be part of special projects within it, namely the NASA RASC-AL competition. In the NASA RASC-AL 2020 team, named Exploration Multi-Purpose Rover for Expanding Surface Science (EMPRESS), Rut was part of the Design division and her team won first place both in their category and overall. She decided to once again join this year’s NASA RASC-AL team with the new challenge of developing a Human Mission to Ceres, in which her areas of work are Spacecraft Design & Analysis and Flight & Propulsion Systems. Thanks to the experience she obtained being part of these projects, Rut was able to polish her technical and soft skills and learn that teamwork is vital in order to grow as a person and as a professional.

However, Rut also managed to cultivate her passions through the arts by seeking them as a means of escape and tranquility. While she enjoys alone time for creativity and inspiration, she values spending quality ​​time with her family, friends, and loved ones. She also recognizes that communication is the key to be able to thrive as a person and as a professional, so she encourages herself and others to use their voices to provide help as well as ask for it.

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Rut will work at Northrop Grumman's HALO Program as a Systems Engineering Intern, where she hopes to further develop the skills and knowledge she obtained while interning as a Systems Engineer at Instarz LLC., a startup aerospace company in Puerto Rico.