School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student Emily Zimovan awarded Women in Aerospace Foundation and ATK Scholarship
| Event Date: | December 1, 2014 |
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Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics undergraduate student Emily Zimovan was presented with the Women in Aerospace (WIA) Foundation and ATK Scholarship at the 29th Annual Women in Aerospace Awards on October 29, 2014. The awards ceremony took place at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.
The WIA awards celebrate women’s professional excellence in aerospace by annually recognizing female leaders who have made outstanding contributions to the aerospace community. The goal of the WIA Foundation Scholarship program is to encourage young women interested in aerospace careers to pursue higher education degrees in engineering, science, or math.
Awarded for the 2014-15 academic year, the WIA Foundation Scholarship application process requires high school and college transcripts, two letters of recommendation, an essay describing the applicant’s interest in aerospace, future career goals, and overall merit of the applicant to receive the scholarship.
Zimovan was awarded the WIA Foundation Scholarship along with two other recipients; Lauren Trollinger, University of Maryland, and Jessica Felde, West Virginia University.
“This scholarship is significant to me because I was able to be recognized among some of the most outstanding women aerospace engineers in the country,” noted Emily. “It was incredible to have my potential recognized by aerospace engineers that are at the top of the field—and the fact that they are also women is truly inspiring to me.”
Emily has been asked by Joseph Anselmo, Editor-in-Chief of Aviation Week to write a “Viewpoint” piece about an important aspect of her education and experiences in aerospace engineering. Zimovan is currently writing the article which will appear in a future issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine.
Emily is studying Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University. She is a member of the Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Engineering Honors Society, has maintained a 4.0 GPA, and has received over ten scholarships or honors for academic achievement, including a NASA Aeronautics Scholarship and the recognition of exceptional merit by the Purdue Society of Women Engineers.
She has also held internships at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Langley Research Center. In addition, she conducted two years of undergraduate research at the University of Maryland Space Systems Laboratory, working on studies with balloon-derived attitude control systems for spacecraft. During her internship at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, she was selected as a John Mather Nobel Scholar.
She plans to pursue graduate school for her Ph.D.
Photos (top): Emily Zimovan, second from left; (bottom): Emily Zimovan
About Women in Aerospace: Women in Aerospace (WIA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding women’s opportunities for leadership and to increasing their visibility within the aerospace community. To learn more about WIA, visit: www.womeninaerospace.org
About ATK: ATK is an aerospace, defense and commercial products company with operations in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally. To learn more about ATK, visit: http://www.atk.com/
To read Emily's opinion guest column, "How to Attract More Women to Aerospace," in Aviation Week & Space Technology, visit: http://aviationweek.com/technology/opinion-how-attract-more-women-aerospace