Adriana Molinar

Undergraduate Student, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

What are you are studying/what you are interested in studying and/or researching while at Purdue? If you have done internships or other applicable experiences, feel free to include them here.

I am studying aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue, as well as pursuing a pilot’s license. Flight is my passion, and I hope to learn as much as I can through my coursework as well as my flight training. Besides flight, I also love learning about different cultures and languages, so I’m studying French as part of a minor in Global Engineering Studies.  

On campus, I’m most involved in Women in Aviation, the NASA Student Launch Team, and the Society of Women Engineers. Right now, I’m working as a mechanical engineering intern for Collins Aerospace, working on landing gear for military airplanes like the F-35 in Fort Worth, TX.  

What made you want to join the Leading Women Toward Space Careers program?

The mission of the program really spoke to me. Reading about the career journeys of the mentors and students in the program, I felt a new sense of ambition and the strong desire to be a woman like them someday. I know I deserve a place in the space industry that I love so much, and this program’s mission affirms that. It promises to challenge me, but I’m so excited to grow through that challenge and elevate my technical, professional, and personal skills. I knew that the mentorship program had a lot of wisdom to offer, and I knew that the travel and networking opportunities would be an immense privilege for a young professional. Essentially, however, I was motivated by how incredibly fun it all seemed. A career in service of space would be a true joy, and I hope that someday I can meaningfully contribute to the field and serve as an inspiration for the next generation of girls who dream. 

What area would you like to work in after graduation? (What career path, interests, opportunities, etc., would you like to accomplish? What field are you interested in?)

After graduation, I hope to attend the National Test Pilot School and obtain a master’s degree in flight test engineering. Someday, I want to use these skills to test and operate aircraft and spacecraft within the defense industry, and after some time perhaps venture into commercial spaceflight. This is a very broad idea of what I want to do, and I expect to narrow it down further as I continue my undergraduate education.