Every year, the San Diego Air & Space Museum issues scholarships to deserving graduating high school students in San Diego county. One of our past winners gave us a nice update that we wanted to share: In 1999, The San Diego Air & Space Museum awarded me a scholarship from the Bill Gibbs Endowment Fund. I went to UC Berkeley to receive a BS Mechanical Engineering. I later pursued two advanced degrees at San Jose State University to receive a Master's in Systems Engineering and an MBA. I am a member of Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society) and Beta Gamma Sigma (Business Honor Society). I have been employed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems as an engineer since 2005. My career has grown from statistical analysis of solid rocket motors to advanced R&D concepts to technical leadership.

Today, I am Technical Assistant to the Chief Engineer for the Strategic and Missile Defense line of business at Lockheed Martin. In October 2014, I will be awarded the Distinguished New Engineer Award from the Society of Women Engineers. This award honors women engineers who have been activity engaged in engineering in the first 10 years of their careers. A maximum of 10 of these awards are given each year at the SWE Annual Conference. Thank you to the entire San Diego Air & Space Museum team for inspiring me to pursue my dreams as an engineer. There is no greater thrill than watching a rocket launch or seeing how far humanity can explore beyond the Earth. I would not have known that this amazing career path existed if someone had not shown me that this was possible. 

-Jessica McDonald Teachworth

The Museum wants to congratulate Jessica and encourage students interested in the STEM academics to apply for one of our scholarships.

To learn more about the Museum's scholarship program, please click here.