Our Team

Executive Board

Simran Dhoju (she/her)

Chair

Simran Dhoju is a Spacecraft Qualification Engineer at Planet Labs, a leading earth-imaging satellite company based in San Francisco, California. She graduated from The University of Alabama in Aerospace Engineering and minors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. Throughout her career, she has worn many hats. At college, she was a part of her university’s rocket team for four years, where she led the solid rocket team as Project Manager, coordinating the design, manufacturing, and testing of solid rockets. She led the entire team as President during her fourth year. She had internships as an international student at Wisk Aero and Planet Labs. At Wisk, she supported the development of the tilt-rotor mechanism for their eVTOL as a Mechanical Engineer. At Planet Labs, she worked as a Spacecraft Qualification Intern, a role she held for a year before joining the team full-time.

She is deeply passionate about volunteering her time for outreach to inspire minorities in aerospace. In early 2021, she founded Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics Nepal. She also served as DEI Co-Chair for WoAA International for two years. For her contributions and passion for aerospace, she has been awarded the Zed Factor Fellowship, Brooke Owens Fellowship, and Women in Aerospace Awards

Skylar Edwards (she/her)

Internal Vice Chair

Skylar Jung Edwards is a engineer with a passion for aerospace and biomedical technologies. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Bioastronautics and Biomedical Engineering at the same institution. Skylar's career interests lie in enhancing EVA suits and planetary operations for future space exploration, and she is dedicated to contributing to the human spaceflight industry.

Skylar's dedication and excellence in her field have earned her recognition in the prestigious Brooke Owens Fellowship. She is also a dedicated volunteer, serving as a Graduate Advisor for Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics at her local university and in her previous international position on the WOAA board as expansion chair where she has organized successful conferences, strengthened industry relationships, and promoted professional and technical development.

In her professional journey, Skylar has worked with industry leaders, such as United Launch Alliance, Northrup Grumman and NASA, demonstrating her expertise as a Systems Engineer for the Vulcan Rocket, and Active Space Debris Removal Solutions and contributing to innovative projects in Space Medicine Operations. Her research in bioastronautics, including the study of the vestibular system's response to turbulence, has yielded groundbreaking insights.

Rachel Harvey (they/she)

Secretary

Rachel Harvey is an Application Engineer at Control Southern, an industrial automation company that supports the Space Coast. She received her Master’s in Aerospace Engineering in 2023 from Georgia Tech. Their graduate research focused on plasma-wall interaction finite element models for air breathing electric propulsion applications and optimizing bistable airfoil structures. Rachel graduated with a Bachelor’s in AE from the University of Maryland in 2021, and has interned at Aurora Flight Sciences, the MITRE Corporation, and Blue Origin. She has been involved in WoAA since 2021, and serves as a mentor with Girls in Aerospace. Her hobbies include painting, biking the Atlanta Beltline and baking.

Board Members

Thara Konduri (she/her)

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair

Thara is a passionate engineer, design thinker, innovator, and team player. She is a mechanical engineer at The Boeing Company working on electronics hardware for various space and aviation platforms. Thara is heavily involved at Boeing for internal organizations that focus on mentoring and women in leadership. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, her favorite experiences were being a part of multidisciplinary teams, becoming an innovation coach for design thinking, and being on the UMD Hyperloop team. Thara’s priorities as an engineer and leader are to lead with empathy, create inclusive team environments, and to make data-driven decisions. In her free time, she enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, singing, and cooking plant-based food.

Anusha Dixit (she/her)

Outreach Chair

Anusha is a systems engineer at Northrop Grumman Corporation, working on the Habitation and Logistics Outpost for NASA Gateway. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 2021, and is working towards her master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University. During undergrad, Anusha conducted research on grain dynamics on asteroids, including the effects of the Brazil Nut Effect on magnetic asteroids. She previously interned at NASA Goddard, NASA Johnson, and BAE Systems. Her hobbies include reading, trying new recipes, and pilates.

Aishwarya Dhara (she/her)

Professional Chair

Michaela Hemming is a PhD student in Aerospace Systems Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her doctoral research is on rapid injector development for rotating detonation engines funded by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO). Michaela received a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University in 2018 with two minors in Political Science and Nondestructive Evaluation. Michaela also serves as a mentor for the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program and participates in outreach events whenever she can. In her free time, Michaela likes to bake, play DnD, and go hiking with her two dogs.

Heather Kline (don't/mind)

Technical Development Chair

Heather is a senior engineer at Virgin Galactic working in advanced systems. She is a senior member of AIAA and a member of the Thermophysics Technical Committee. Dr. Kline has worked in areas from shape optimization of hypersonic inlets to boundary layer stability under thermochemical nonequilibrium, to high-speed civil transport vehicles, to mission control and performance analysis for crewed suborbital spaceflight. They earned their PhD from Stanford in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2017 after a dual BS in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Outside of work she enjoys trail running, skiing, and reading.

Kaylin Borders (she/her)

Member Advancement Chair

Kaylin received her Bachelor's in aerospace engineering from San Diego State University in spring of 2023 and is currently pursuing a PhD in aerospace engineering at Cornell University. Her research interests include thermal management for high-power electric propulsion thrusters and nuclear electric propulsion. Kaylin has interned at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is currently a GEM fellow and her hobbies include journaling, reading, and piano and music production.

Kaylee Champion (she/her)

Professional Development Chair

Kaylee received a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA, in 2021 and is currently pursuing a PhD degree in astrodynamics in the Autonomous Vehicles Systems (AVS) Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her current research interests include charged astrodynamics, spacecraft-plasma interactions, and mitigating space debris. Kaylee has interned at the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA Goddard and has received the National Science Foundation fellowship in 2021, the NSTGRO fellowship in 2022, and the Amelia Earhart Fellowship in 2023. Her hobbies include hiking, skiing, and playing with her cat.

Avatar Technologies

Website Sponsor

We are grateful to Avatar Technologies for sponsoring our website and helping WOAA further its movement of increasing diversity in the Aerospace Industry. Avatar Technologies is an Aerospace engineering services and consultancy firm based in Maryland. Learn more about our sponsor here!