UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Alexandria Rhoads, a third-year aerospace engineering undergraduate student in the Penn State College of Engineering, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Brooke Owens Fellowship. Rhoads is one of 44 student leaders chosen from over 400 applications for the nationally acclaimed program.
Rhoads, who also is a Schreyer Scholar, is the second Penn State student selected to participate in the program, following Mya Guillaume, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Penn State in 2023, in 2022.
The Brooke Owens Fellowship recognizes exceptional women and gender minorities in the space and aviation industry, with inductees going through a competitive application process consisting of technical and creative submissions as well as interviews with the fellowship’s leadership team, former Brooke Owens fellows and members of leading aerospace companies. Fellows are selected based on their talent, desire to pursue a career in aerospace, creative abilities, strong record of leadership and a commitment to their communities, according to the fellowship website.
Recipients receive professional development opportunities with leading aerospace companies, paid internship opportunities and an invitation to attend the annual Brooke Owens Summit. Additionally, they are matched for personalized coaching with a senior leader or executive in the aerospace industry alongside one of the fellowship’s mentors. As part of the fellowship, Rhoads will intern with Airbus U.S. Space and Defense this summer, where she will help innovate the design of spacecrafts and satellites.
“When I first found out that I had been selected for the fellowship, I felt that all my hard work and passion for aerospace had come together in the best possible way and provided me with an amazing opportunity,” Rhoads said. “The Brooke Owens Fellowship seemed like the perfect opportunity to build a community within the aerospace industry while simultaneously gaining real-world experience.”
Rhoads learned about the fellowship from her program manager at the Penn State Readiness Institute, Emma Hance, who encouraged her to apply. As a high school senior, Rhoads spent six weeks attending workshops, meeting with guest speakers and tackling community service projects as part of the inaugural class of the Readiness Institute's Summer Discovery program.
“In the years since I met Alexandria in the Readiness Institute Summer Discovery, I have really enjoyed getting to see her grow and flourish at Penn State,” Hance said. “Alexandria is an ambitious leader who is always excited to discuss what she’s learning both in and out of class. What really strikes me about Alexandria, though, is her ability to encourage others to come out of their shells and seek out new opportunities.”
Since coming to Penn State, Rhoads has developed her skills across the field of aerospace engineering with a variety of organizations and internships. She is president of the Shell-Eco Marathon at Penn State, where teams work together to develop energy efficient vehicles, as well as president of the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team, a cross-disciplinary, student-run organization that provides undergraduates the opportunity to build an autonomous vehicle. She also served as an undergraduate research associate in the Aerial Robots and Interactions Laboratory at Penn State and worked as an engineering intern with RPA Engineering in Pittsburgh.
Rhoads encouraged her peers to take advantage of the opportunities they have at Penn State.
“My biggest piece of advice would be to just put yourself out there and apply to things because you never know what could happen,” Rhoads said. “It’s easy to believe you aren’t capable of something, but it’s not a question of capability, it’s a question of confidence.”