鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting opportunity to form professional鈥痗onnections, build new skills, and a good introduction to the aerospace industry,鈥 says Antoine-Hands. 鈥淚 wanted to approach aerospace from the space side of things since I have historically focused on aviation.鈥
The Patti Grace Smith Fellowship was created to combat the under-representation of Black employees in the aerospace industry in the United States. While Black students make up 15% of undergraduate and graduate students in the United States, they only make up 6% of workers and 3% of aerospace executives.
At West 十分六合彩 College Antoine-Hands is studying engineering and, is currently a Project Manager for which consists of high school and college students who are building a two-seater light sport aircraft. It was through this experience that she learned about the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship and was motivated to apply. As part of the fellowship, she will be working for to design and build 3D printed reusable rockets to launch into space.
Antoine-Hands has recently become a certified airframe and powerplant mechanic鈥攇iving her the qualifications to work on airplane engines and external parts. After completing her studies at West 十分六合彩, she plans to earn her bachelor鈥檚 and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering so that she can design air and space vehicles with a greater focus on operator experience and maintainability.