Winner of the Changing the World Scholarship

Maraya Guadalupe Carbajal

Maraya’s essay discusses the obstacles she has faced and overcome as a female student of color pursuing a career in the male-dominated field of Aerospace Engineering. Extraordinarily bright, Maraya’s essay makes clear that not only does she belong in her desired profession, but she’s also ready to be a leader in the field.

Read Maraya’s Essay:

My name is Maraya Carbajal, and I am a first generation Mexican-Salvadoran American college student attending California State University Northridge (CSUN), majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I am also a scholar of CSUN’s Bridge to the Future program, a program that focuses on community engagement and building community leaders. This program has also been recognized by the Excelencia in Education whose mission is to accelerate Latino student success in higher education.

I am the youngest child in my family and I proudly represent my community. My family and I have been through extremely hard economic times, especially when my father lost his job several years ago. My father has been working as a temporary gardener and sometimes earns approximately $500 per month. My older sister works to support the household expenses to help our family out. My father’s unemployment has mostly been associated with not having the documentation to work in this country. My drive to pursue engineering comes as a result of showcasing the great empowerment and perseverance as a proud daughter of immigrant parents.

Pursuing higher education and majoring in mechanical engineering has allowed me to continue furthering my education and exposure to my dream. I aspire to become an aerospace engineer, contributing to aerospace research and technological innovations. As a mechanical engineer major, I have developed skills to contribute to technological innovations, and I hope to increase the involvement of women in STEM. Currently at California State University Northridge, I was involved in the Autonomy Research Center for STEAHM (ARCS), a NASA-sponsored transdisciplinary program conducting convergence research and collaboration using increasingly autonomous systems (IA). The project I was currently working on is called CAESARR, and its main objective is to investigate the challenges of designing a robotic rover for exploratory missions in harsh conditions, which was sparked by the JPL PUFFER for planetary exploration. I am also proud to say that I was selected to participate in NASA's L'SPACE Program Academy in Fall 2023. I am looking forward to these opportunities and the growth I will exhibit.

I have gotten the opportunity to engage myself in research under Dr. David Boyajian's supervision working alongside a graduate student. A physical model was built,which involved a sphere being placed on an oscillating beam, rolling in upwards and downward directions. The ladder was then subjected to forced oscillations from a stepper motor, which was constructed and utilized to track the sphere's position at any instant in time.In everyday applications vibrations and dynamics take a high precedent in everything that we do. Dynamics could be detected in some applications such as car suspensions, a space rocket being launched, and the motion of buildings swaying due to a seismic event. The objective of this research is to comprehend the vibratory motion, and dynamical analysis of a system during a seismic activity.I presented this year at the CSUN possium on April 5th, 2024. This project allowed me to strengthen my skills in Solidworks since we replicated the SolidWorks model of the prototypes using 3D printed parts utilizing ABS plastic. During the assembling of the model, I had to use a caliper, screw driver, pliers and more.Though this project I also carried out some dynamical and vibrational calculations to interpret our results and analysis. While conducting research, I had to teach myself the concepts of vibrations (a course I have not yet taken). I also collected a few research papers to reinforce our findings and utilize them to support our claims or integrate some ideas. During this summer, I plan to learn how to use Ansys.I also hope to get my certification for Solidworks over this summer.

As a mechanical engineer, I aspire to work for NASA and hope to contribute to aerospace research and technological innovations. My exposure to robotics in high school has helped me develop my understanding of the importance of technology in furthering science education. I am passionate about engineering - a profession I know will play a critical role in the future of our society. Pursuing a profession in engineering will also help me empower women; I plan to advocate for and help educate girls in low-income communities, encouraging them to confidently enter the STEM field. My dream is to change the statistics of Latina women in STEM careers. To accomplish this dream, I have made it my personal goal in college to reach out to low-income youth, especially girls, and give them the courage and skills to enter this exciting field.

During my first year in college, I really struggled with seeing myself pursue an engineering profession. When I first stepped into my first engineering course, I was shocked to realize that I was one or really the only female student of color in the class. I felt like an outsider or someone undeserving of this privilege. I noticed the troubling experience of “imposter syndrome.” However, my father has always encouraged my interest in STEM. He has advised me and taught me mechanical skills. Though I have to constantly prove my abilities, I have managed to surprise others with how capable I am.

But I did grow frustrated overtime and depressed because these overwhelming emotions lingered day by day. It wasn’t because I didn’t love the profession but because of not feeling represented or having someone who I could identify with and understand me. But I then turned this deep frustration and anger into motivation because I want to make sure that once I become an Aerospace engineer, to represent and uplift my community. I felt the need to represent my community and speak about my experiences. I want to provide opportunities to low income communities and listen to them because I wish I had more representation in this field. I need there to be more representation because we are the future. Through my motivation I was able to open new opportunities and become a mentor and STEM tutor in college. This profession has allowed me to empower others and remain resilient.

My accomplishments could have not been possible without my family's encouragement and my father’s dedication to see me succeed. My father has shown me that ganas can pave the way even for the most difficult situations. As he would put it- the goal in life is not to have huge amounts of gold, but to demonstrate the light we carry to shine as stars upon our next generations, so that they don’t walk into the dark with no stars to guide them. In pursuing my engineering degree, I am paving the way for others to continue pursuing their education and believing that the impossible dreams are always possible to build. My STEM profession has allowed me to make the world a better place.