Published: Feb. 2, 2023

Three University of Colorado Boulder students have earned 2023 Brooke Owens Fellowships. The highly competitive program provides paid internships and mentoring to exceptional undergraduate women seeking careers in aviation or space exploration.

Aerospace undergraduates Margot Daberkow, Skylar Edwards, and Sweta Alla have been named 2023 winners.

The program honors the memory of Brooke Owens, a space industry pioneer and accomplished pilot. Owens’ career took her to NASA, the X-Prize Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the White House. Her enthusiasm and passion for aerospace led friends and colleagues to create a foundation to inspire and train exceptional undergraduate women with the same zeal for space exploration.

Sweta Alla

Host Institution: Aurelia Institute

Sweta Alla is a sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder double majoring in aerospace engineering and chemistry with a minor in space. She is on the pre-med track and is interested in pursuing bioastronautics research and improving accessibility to space. Sweta has wanted to become an astronaut ever since she was five years old and is always willing to partake in projects and challenges that expand upon our current knowledge of space habitats and travel.

Sweta is excited to join Aurelia Institute this summer as a Brooke Owens Fellow to work on outreach and space architecture dedicated to building humanity’s future in space.

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Margot Daberkow

Host Institution: Sierra Nevada Corporation

Margot Daberkow is a sophomore in Aerospace Engineering, with a minor in Computer Science, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. At 9 years of age, she decided on Aerospace engineering, and hasn’t changed her mind much since.

After significant personal challenges, Margot has pushed through for her community and education, developing skills and knowledge she will use to better not only her immediate surroundings, but the future of humanity as a whole. As a fellow of the 2023 Class of Brookies, Margot will be interning with Sierra Nevada Corporation. She’s ecstatic to build her skills and career up, as well as contribute to the goals of her host company to her fullest capacity.

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Skylar Jung Edwards

Host Institution: United Launch Alliance

Skylar Edwards graduating senior at the University of Colorado Boulder in the class of 2023, majoring in Aerospace Engineering & minoring in Biomedical Engineering. She plans to attend CU Boulder again in the Fall to get her MS in Bioastronautics, and hopes to spend her career making space travel safe and accessible for everyone.

Skylar has worked with Dr. Torin Clark and Dr. David Temple in the Bioastronautics Lab for the past three years and has had two prior internships at NASA JSC, both of which are closely related to work in human spaceflight. As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Skylar will spend Summer 2023 as an Intern at the United Launch Alliance in Denver, CO.

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