Her Story
About Riva
Riva Sharma is the founder of Hypersonics for Humanity, a startup dedicated to humanitarian aid through aerospace technology. The company focuses on developing supersonic vehicles equipped with terrain-adaptive landing gear to deliver critical supplies and disaster relief to regions lacking traditional infrastructure. A space engineering student at Georgia Tech for four years, Riva began her professional journey in fall 2024 with internships at Firefly Aerospace working on hydraulic systems for rocket engine testing, at Hermes Corporation on hypersonics projects, and at IHRSA Major as a cryogenic propulsion intern. She has accumulated two to three years of experience across various aerospace organizations while pursuing her passion for space engineering. Based in Denver, Colorado, Riva draws inspiration from her immigrant household upbringing, crediting her parents and older sister for instilling an irreplaceable work ethic and adaptability that allows her to navigate diverse environments. She values building a company culture that feels like family, surrounding herself with passionate engineers committed to helping others through meaningful applications of technology. Riva encourages young women in aerospace to embrace their emotional depth and empathy as strengths rather than conforming to stereotypes, and advises putting oneself in challenging learning environments to grow.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Riva
01What do you attribute your success to?
Coming from an immigrant household taught me to navigate different spaces and work harder to understand people. My parents and older sister showed me an irreplaceable work ethic. I feel like a nomad who can adapt to environments because I built micro-skills in those areas.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Aerospace engineering has more men than women which can feel intimidating. Push away negative assumptions, let yourself fully be who you are. Embrace your qualities like emotional depth, ability to read people, control a room, and empathize. Don't try to be more dominant or aggressive if that's not you. Your emotional maturity gives you an advantage.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Put yourself in a room where you are the dumbest person there to learn the most. Explore opportunities where you feel unqualified, like joining a rocket building club even if you know nothing. Being in a room full of people that know the same as you, you have nothing to gain. Throw yourself into the deep end because that's where you learn the most.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Surround yourself with people who have passion not just for engineering but for helping others. It's about the application of the product and caring about that. Build a culture where people feed into each other and try to improve each other. It feels like family.
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