Elizabeth A. Bradshaw

Undergraduate Student, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
Minor: Mathematics

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 an aerospace engineering major, and my work in the aerospace field spans the discipline. On campus, I am heavily involved with Purdue Space Program and am a member of the Exec Board. I am also a part of research about radiation shielding for satellite electronics. This summer, I am a Satellite Operations Engineering intern with Iridium in Leesburg, VA. I previously interned with NASA in x-ray astrophysics, and I spent a year working at the National Air and Space Museum in education and outreach. I look forward to pursuing other internships and research projects during my time at Purdue.

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

The Leading Women Towards Space Careers program is very complimentary with the work I did for my Girl Scout Gold Award project during high school. For that project, I interviewed 18 women in career paths across the aerospace industry from planetary scientist to robotics engineer. While developing curriculum and leading workshops, I compiled profiles of these exceptional women and information about each of their careers into a book that I donated to school and public libraries. I will be able to build on this work in mentoring women in the aerospace field through the Leading Women Towards Space Careers program.

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 would like to pursue a career in mission control. The combination of high-stakes decision making and teamwork would be the perfect synthesis of my passions for leadership, problem-solving, and human spaceflight.