Electrical Engineering Transfer Student Awarded Fellowship for Women in Aerospace

“Through ENLACE I did research at the School of Medicine, because at that time I wanted to be  a doctor,” she said. “But I noticed that my mind was always drawn to the coding aspect and the engineering and how the machines worked– like I’d wonder how is this machine able to process proteins!? So I realized that engineering would be a better fit for me.”

ENLACE is also where she met program founder and director Olivia Graeve, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, and a native of Mexico herself. 

“At ENLACE I met the wonderful Dr. Olivia Graeve– she was the person who inspired me to study in the U.S,” said Siono Gutierrez. “She supported me with letters of recommendation and guided me through the process. You don’t see Mexican women engineers often, and it was because of her that I had this confidence that I should try and study at UC San Diego. I have a picture of me in front of the Jacobs School in 2018 as an ENLACE participant. When I came back to establish myself as a student it was like, oh wow, 17-year-old me would pass out if she knew I’d be here!”

Siono Gutierrez doesn’t take the role that Graeve and other mentors from community college have played in her life lightly. In fact, she has considered earning a PhD one day so that she might serve as a role model for other students. 

“I’ve been able to pursue my dreams because people who accomplished great things have inspired me greatly. I may decide to get a PhD to become that professor who inspires minority students, particularly Latinas, because I want to pay it forward and inspire other people who look like me.”

From Professor Graeve’s point of view, students like Siono Gutierrez are why she comes to work every day. 

“Grecia is a motivation for me,” said Graeve. “The idea that a student can start at UC San Diego as a high school researcher, and then move on to obtain her undergraduate degree here is truly outstanding. Grecia is going to change the world.”

Siono Gutierrez first got involved in robotics through a robotics club at her high school in Mexicali. She enjoyed the mechanical aspect of getting the robot to move, but found the magic of sensors and circuitry even more appealing. 

“In mechanical engineering, you can see the concepts physically– say a motor running or a car moving– but with electricity, it’s kind of like magic,” she said. “I really like the concept of such intricate levels of physics and math working together to produce something as wonderful as electricity. And then in community college I took a circuits class and fell in love with the labs. I knew that’s what I wanted to study.”

She didn’t feel that there were many opportunities in aerospace in Mexico, so she wanted to pursue her education in the U.S. Though she was accepted to UC San Diego as a first-year student, she didn’t have the financial means to support herself, so she went to community college first. At College of the Desert, where she commuted to school every week from Mexicali, Siono Gutierrez continued to be involved with robotics groups, and was introduced to the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Program. (NCAS)

“That was the program that really opened my eyes to visualize myself in the space industry,” Siono Gutierrez said. 

In fact, through the NCAS program, she attended a lecture by a Blue Origin employee, which makes her internship at the company as a Brooke Owens Fellow feel like a full circle moment.

“I’m so grateful. And hopefully this can open doors and inspire other Mexican women to be part of the space industry. There have been a couple of Mexican women before me who were part of the fellowship, who go back to Mexico and share their knowledge and inspire the next generation of women in STEM. I hope to be part of this network to pay it forward.”