Embry-Riddle Presents Nathalie Quintero and Katherine Ghelarducci

As I am finishing this article, I reflect on my vision of what I intended it to be. I had imagined an article in which I would share the stories of two ERAU alumni, currently working at NASA and Boeing, and what it felt like working at such a big organization. Surely, this is a topic that many of the students, here at Riddle, would be interested in. Alas, as with almost anything in life, what I started doing was not at all what I ended up with.

Inspired by my conversations with Nathalie Quintero and Katherine Ghelarducci, this article turned into a philosophical essay about what space means to humanity, becoming a beautiful mess of disjoint information.

I can remember when I was in middle school I thought about the fact that if humanity were to suddenly go extinct, nothing would change on a cosmic scale. I would question whether the universe would even notice that humanity is gone. I would stare at the mirror and wonder whether the person looking back at me was the same as me. Did he have similar thoughts? Did he have any thoughts at all? Was he seeing the same as I? I would question why I was born. Why is it this very version of me that exists? Are there others of me?

Perhaps the age of twelve or thirteen is a bit early to have an existential crisis. But ever since then, when I look up at the night sky I sit there quietly staring at all the stars, and all those questions would come back rushing in my head. And for some reason, I would continue staring and expect the answers to come at me from space.

Currently, space is inaccessible for most of us, and so we, the common folk, are left drooling over photos taken from space. We can only wonder what it might feel like to be up there seeing our planet from its entirety, and perhaps what it might feel like to step on the Moon.

Such an experience has to be profound; it has to evoke some philosophical thoughts as you see the world from a perspective known only to a few.

There are plenty of people out there who will support the idea that we probably don’t need to expend resources into exploring space, because we need to focus on life on Earth. Perhaps they are right. We don’t need to know anything about space in order to live on Earth. After all, people lived for thousands of years just fine not knowing almost anything about space at all, and animals seem to be managing just fine.

But perhaps humans do not explore space because we have to. Maybe, we have decided to venture out there because we are curious. Maybe we went there just because we couldn’t stand not knowing what was in space. It is in our nature to want to conquer the unknown.

Space exploration is an improbable story of challenge and triumph. In under a decade, humans went from barely being able to get an object in orbit, to sending humans to the Moon. Which is, on its own, such an absurd destination. There is no obvious reason to want to go to the Moon, and though it seems somehow logical it feels natural for humanity to want to go to a place no one has ever gone before. Perhaps that is the only reason for undertaking such an unreasonable project. It is just our nature.

Perhaps that is why we want to return to the Moon, and then venture even further to other places known to none. This is what the Artemis program represents – our baffling desire to explore no matter how big the challenge, and no matter the cost. As humanity returns to the moon, it is likely that, much like in 1969, it will be marked as a significant and symbolic moment in history. With that, the Artemis program holds great social responsibility.

In a perfect world, such a moment will not have to be used for fighting for social equality, but alas our world is far from perfect.

Representation

We all have probably heard the quote “Representation matters.”

Understanding why it matters, however, is just as important, and that was the very first question I asked Nathalie in our conversation. On that topic, Ms. Quintero noted: “Representation matters because sometimes it’s difficult to see yourself represented in the [aerospace] field, specifically if you are a minority in the field.”

Having somebody who one can look up to, somebody one can relate to, somebody that can represent you, can have a great influence on one’s career. It shows you that what you want to achieve is, indeed, possible, and you should remain undeterred in following your dream. Representation shapes how people view themselves, and encourages underrepresented people to follow a career in the industry.

Ms. Ghelarducci is somebody who has faced issues that have plagued the engineering field for decades. While gender bias is not at all as common as it was 50 years ago, it is still very much present in the work field. She shared that during her career she experienced pushback due to her being a woman in engineering. “… even when I transferred to Kennedy [Space Center] a lot of people when I came on thought I was a first-year, fresh out of college, and it took them a bit to realize I’ve been at NASA for almost 9 years when I started at Kennedy.”

While working at Marshall Space Flight Center, Katherine was the recipient of awards for the quality of work she did. However, after receiving her awards, she also received comments from a coworker who inferred that she received those awards because she is a woman. I want to believe that all the people who graduate from this institution would never criticize anyone in their field based on anything except their abilities.

Working at NASA and Boeing

During our conversations, both Nathalie and Katherine had a shared opinion on how their experience at university differs from working at their representative organizations. College will teach you the basics, or as Ms. Quintero put it – ‘an overview of all that might exist’, and when you start your work in your respective field, it is there that you will learn the intricacies of your [job]. That is why she advises students to go and do an internship to see where they might fit, and whether they actually like their profession, as there are so many different fields in engineering.

Both NASA and Boeing, being such large organizations, give the opportunity to explore and develop in different paths. As Katherine and Nathalie noted, when you join you can work on different projects and see what fits you. Furthermore, one thing became apparent during both interviews. As Katherine put it:

“One of the key things about when you go into the job field is you want to find a mentor right away. Somebody that you are comfortable talking to, somebody that is willing to answer questions, if you have any. Somebody that can help you move forward, if you want to pursue leadership

[positions] or anything like that.” As a Testing and Structural analysis engineer, Katherine was a part of a team that would test different components until failure. She was even on the team that was testing the structural qualifications of the tank on the first stage of the SLS rocket. When I asked her whether she enjoyed breaking stuff, she smiled and with laughter said “Oh yeah!”

From our conversations, it became apparent that both Nathalie and Katherine enjoy their work.

I Know What You Are Thinking

How do I get an internship or a job at NASA or Boeing or any other company for that matter?

I received the same tips from both Katherine and Nathalie. Send your resumes to the companies you want to work for. Search for open positions, and internships. Typically during the Career fair, recruiters will hand you their business cards. Reach out to them afterwards.