In addition to the partners, BLAST will also collaborate with the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship program to provide these future leaders with an expanding network of Black peers, colleagues, and role models.
The award guarantees a paid summer internship at one of the partner companies. Each scholar will receive a mentor throughout their studies, as well as an additional year after graduation to offer support as scholars transition into the workforce. The program also includes access to specialist vocational skills sessions and monthly leadership training.
Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic said, “These fantastic scholars are helping to drive forward the aerospace industry, and I’m delighted to welcome them onto the Galactic Unite BLAST program as our first cohort. Diversity is a key component of innovation, and this scholarship will inject even more creativity and add extra insight into the growing aerospace sector. I look forward to seeing this group of brilliant individuals thrive across the organizations involved in this program, and hope to see them become future leaders in the aerospace industry, inspiring others to follow in their path.”
Michael Kyle, Planet’s Head of Talent and Belonging said, “As Planet continues to invest in our own racial justice commitments, we are proud to be a founding sponsor of BLAST, providing new career pathways into space, specifically and with intention, for members of the Black community, we are in amazing company, and together we will be part of the future for change.”
Amaury Reed, a scholar on the program said, “I am honored to be part of the Galactic Unite Black Leaders in Aerospace Training Program! It has been a dream of mine to contribute to making space more accessible to all and that dream is finally coming to fruition with the help of Virgin Galactic. I am ecstatic to learn as much as possible from my prospective mentor and the rest of the Virgin Galactic Team. Experiences like these really do keep young engineers facing the rigors of their academic course-load motivated, and passionate about the work they do.”
The 2021 BLAST Fellows are;
- Kaylin Moss, a Junior studying Computer Science at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York
- Amaury Reed, a Senior studying Aerospace Engineering at San Diego State University in San Diego, California
- Taiwo-Bayonle Olayiwola, a Senior studying Aerospace Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington
- Mark Parent, a Junior studying Mechanical Engineering at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California
- Benjamin Adarkwa, a Junior studying Aerospace Engineering at University of Maryland at College Park
- Joey Arnold, a Junior studying Electrical Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania