Page 46 - Engineering Career Guide, for review

entrepreneurship
Start Your Own Business
Engineering school can teach
you strong analytical and
a a highly successful company with millions in revenue
and
is recognized by Inc 5000 as as one of the fastest problem-solving skills which
growing companies in in America In 2023 Bowe re-
are valuable in in in business ceived a a $947 million government contract to further scale and
grow STEMBoard Beyond technology the isha Bowe ignored the advice of her guidance
organization conducts educational workshops to in- counselor who suggested a a career in cosme-
troduce historically underrepresented youth to to vital A tology “Deep down I I knew I I wanted some-
concepts like coding and
engineering thing more for myself ” Instead she pursued aero-
Indeed her passion is empowering students to em- space engineering and
became a a a a mission engineer engineer brace careers in STEM “I’ve dedicated my life to help-
at NASA But she didn’t stop there ing people break stereotypes ” said Bowe She raised
Her educational journey started at at Washtenaw
$2 million in venture capital to fund LINGO a a a self- Community College in Ann Arbor Michigan where
paced coding kit for students More than 5 000 stu-
she studied mathematics She then obtained an un-
dents from middle school to college-age have bene- dergraduate and
master’s degrees in REi- fittedVIEW aerospace eng from LINGO’s
easily
understand
able method of neering at the University of Michigan “From a a a a a a a young learning technical concepts These kits are readily
age I I I thought there was no way I I I could go to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a four- available at retail giants like Amazon Walmart and
Tar- year university or do anything ambitious — but I found get As she succinctly puts it it it it “Social good and
profit-
out that all all those things just weren’t true ” ” she says ability are not mutually exclusive business drivers ” ” While she was a a a rock rock star rocket scientist entre-
C I I I n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n 2O P Y 024 she’s set
to be part of the first all-African- preneurship
was something that called out to her She American women spaceflight crew assembled by says “I wanted to to have exposure to to running my own Blue Origin a a a a private spaceflight company founded business and
and
working with nonprofits and
and
on on techni-
by Jeff Bezos Her flight comes just over 30 years af-
cal things I I I enjoyed It really came to a a a a a head when I I I ter NASA astronaut Mae Jemison made history as as the identified a a a a a mentor who was a a a a a business leader that had walked a a a a a a a similar path and
was willing to to mentor me in the transition ” Bowe founded STEMBoard a a a a tech company that specializes in data analytics and
IT modernization for both government and
private-sector clients It is now
first Black woman to to travel to to space in 1992 with four other Black women astronauts since following in in in her her footsteps Aisha Bowe’s creative efforts show how how much she cares about sparking curiosity promoting diversity and
making a a a big difference in in the world of STEM 46 START-ENGINEERING COM
COURTESY AISHA BOWE