Aerospace engineering PhD student Annika Rollock is one of 25 individuals nationwide selected for the 2019 Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program.
The program, now in its second year, offers summer internships and executive mentorship to inspire the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders.
Rollock earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering at MIT in 2018 and conducts research in entry, descent and landing technologies in CU Boulder’s Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. Her research is aimed at developing novel tools for spacecraft guidance, aerodynamic control and system-level spacecraft design.
She’ll complete a paid internship with Blue Origin and receive one-on-one mentorship from an accomplished member of the space community, which could include astronauts, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors and others.
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program is highly selective and received more than 100 applications from 60 colleges in 24 states this year. Applicants--college juniors, seniors and graduate students pursuing aerospace careers--were evaluated based on academic excellence, relevant experience and passion for innovation, entrepreneurship and commercial space.
The nonprofit honors the memory of Isakowitz, a young engineer and entrepreneur whose passion for space exploration led to great strides in the industry and inspired those around him. The fellowship is modeled after the Brooke Owens Fellowship program, which recently selected five CU Boulder students for its 2019 cohort.
In 2018, Alex St. Clair, a BS/MS student in electrical engineering at CU Boulder, was among the inaugural class of Matthew Isakowitz fellows and interned with The Spaceship Company. Sam Albert, a Master's student in aerospace engineering, was also in the inaugural class. He interned at Moon Express.