• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2021

• North Carolina State University, Aerospace Engineering, ‘22

• Host Institution: Made In Space

• Mentor: Tracy Drain

• Brookie Mentor: Neha Sangana

Solteria Ross is a 4th-year Aerospace Engineering student at North Carolina State University, with minors in English and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Growing up, Solteria always had an innate fascination for space, and this curiosity was combined with engineering when she received an assignment in high school asking, ‘What engineering discipline interests you the most?’. After being captivated by aerospace engineering, she had the opportunity to travel to Kennedy Space Center with her family after her senior year of high school and this experience solidified her passion for aircraft, spacecraft and space exploration.

With the experience that comes with being a biracial woman (African American and West Indian), and a first-generation college student, aerospace engineering presented itself as an uncommon field for her. Through the support of the TRIO SSS-STEM program at NC State, she has had an immense amount of guidance and support for herself and other first-gen students. With this, Solteria is a huge advocate for making the aerospace and aviation field more attainable to marginalized communities by being the representation one needs to see.

At NC State, Solteria has had the chance to be a part of many organizations that have given her leadership experience and have made her a champion of diversity in STEM. She has worked as a College of Engineering Ambassador (EA) since her sophomore year where she performs K-12 outreach, helps first-year engineering students adjust from high school to college and has been a Teaching Assistant to several first-year engineering courses. In addition, she co-leads the EA Diversity Team, with a mission to help recruit and retain ambassadors from underrepresented backgrounds in order to represent all forms of diversity within the College of Engineering. Solteria is also the Secretary of the NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program, the Chapter Treasurer and Community Service Chair of the Mu Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and a part of the University Scholars Program.

Furthermore, Solteria has had a passion for dance since she was three years old. She continues to have the opportunity to grow as a dancer by being a company member of NC State Dance Program’s Panoramic Dance Project (PDP). Solteria has been a company member since her freshman year of college and has recently received the Arts NC State Performing Artist Award for outstanding work in her dance company during the 2019-2020 school year. Solteria accredits much of her academic success to artistic opportunities through the NC State Dance Program.

She has previously completed internships at Collins Aerospace as a Structural Certification Engineering Intern in 2019 and at GE Aviation as a Technical Intern in 2020.

As a 2021 Brooke Owens Fellow, Solteria is thrilled to intern at Made In Space in Jacksonville, Florida.