Komol Patel

Komol is a fourth-year senior in Aerospace Engineering. Komol has been a part of the Illinois Space
Society, a 501(c)(3) student organization focusing on the development of space, since her freshman
year. She has competed in NASA competitions and been heavily involved in educational outreach and
space-based community-building events all four years, and she currently is the Educational Outreach
Director for ISS. She has also been involved with Women in Aerospace on campus and regularly
participates in next-generation mentorship events.

Professionally, Komol has worked with Collins Aerospace as a Design & Structural Dynamics co-op,
helping to design and test 6th generation fighter jet gearboxes, starters, and pumps. She then returned
to Collins the following year and worked as a Spacesuit Systems Engineering intern, where she helped
develop the suit that will take the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon and beyond.
After graduation, Komol will be working at Kennedy Space Center with Boeing as a Space & Launch
Manufacturing Engineering intern.

Komol plans on continuing her education at the University of Illinois with a non-thesis Master’s in
Aerospace Engineering, with a focus on Space Systems. She then hopes to join industry and work to
further space exploration and learn more about this universe we call home. Komol also aims to remain
active with teaching grade-school students about opportunities and futures in STEM, doing what she can
to inspire the next generation to reach for the stars.