Her Story
About Alina
My path to aerospace started at a very young age with my mom, who was very interested in astronomy, astrophysics, and everything that had to do with space. She passed that curiosity to me, and since then, I've been daydreaming about space, seeing every opportunity around me as a little step to get closer to where I wanted to be. Being born in Bolivia, a country that doesn't really have an aerospace program, I had to build from scratch something that would allow me to be more involved in aerospace activities, even in an environment where that wasn't possible. That's how I gained momentum and people started noticing. One of my proudest accomplishments was starting aerospace competitions in Bolivia when I was young. That project took about 7 years to become a reality, with no financial or institutional support. We eventually competed and won prizes at aerospace competitions, one hosted by NASA and another in Russia. We became very popular in our community and country, and our influence spread across Bolivia to Paraguay, Brazil, and Peru, where other students also started forming groups to compete in aerospace competitions. It's amazing to see how it started with this little idea that my family supported and then expanded to influence so many students who are probably now working in the aerospace industry. Before coming to Stanford for my master's, I worked at Zipline International, one of the biggest drone companies in the world. Now I'm finishing my master's in Engineering at Stanford, and I run a social media page where I share my journey and showcase how Bolivia is connected to space. I'm also a mentor to many students, supporting more Latinos and Latinas in STEM and aerospace, because nobody gets to where they are alone.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alina
01What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, the U.S. is focusing on lunar exploration, so they've paused anything else that has to do with other trips or space exploration. Everybody is focusing their resources and efforts towards building a base on the moon. That's not going to be an easy task and it's going to take a couple years. During that period, what I plan to do is continue building my career here on Earth in the meantime. For me personally, there are still a couple of walls I cannot climb because of citizenship restrictions, since I'm still not a citizen here in the U.S., so there are limitations on what I can do in aerospace policy and certain other areas.
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