Student Spotlight: Jacqueline Arroyo Donjuan
Jacqueline "Jackie" Arroyo Donjuan transferred from Los Medanos College prior to being admitted as a student at UC Davis. Jackie is majoring in Aerospace Engineering and anticipates graduating in Spring 2023.
Jackie was inspired to study Aerospace Engineering after taking Newtonian physics at her community college. Exploring the idea of "escape velocity" caused Jackie to become more interested in learning about mass, energy, life, and space. Her desire to learn pushed her to seek academic enrichment opportunities to further advance her knowledge and experience before transferring to UC Davis.
Jackie participated in enrichment programs such as NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) and Lucy Student Pipeline Accelerator and Competency Enabler (L'SPACE) which introduced her to mission procedures, protocols, and concept designs. Her favorite missions from these experiences were "Lucy" and "Astrobee". By participating in these programs, she decided to continue learning more about spacecraft design and space exploration.
In Summer 2021, Jackie interned at Maxar as a Satellite Operations Intern in the Electrical & Communications department. During her first year, she learned operations for integration and test of several spacecraft, which include performance, environmental, and dynamic testing. The following summer, she was able to work on OSAM-1 (On orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1), where she got to meet and collaborate with brilliant engineers from Maxar and NASA to solve complex problems. Following her internship, she was presented with the opportunity to continue working at Maxar as an Electrical Test Development Engineer.
When asked about what she learned from her collective experiences, Jackie had shared "the experience I gained throughout this past year has enhanced my skill set to become a better engineer, problem solver, and critical thinker. I had the opportunity to apply the knowledge I gained through academia into real world scenarios. I am extremely grateful to have such an exciting opportunity become available to me, and I have learned so much about the complexity that goes into building and testing a spacecraft. I have gained so much support from AvenueE, and I would not be in the academic and professional position that I am in today without them. AvenueE has facilitated my access to multiple resources such as tutoring, success coaching, counseling, guest speakers, internship and scholarship opportunities. They connected me with students who share similar goals, experiences, and struggles as me, who I am now close friends with and share classes with. They have been the community support that I needed during this academic journey. Thank you, Shannon, Yesenia, and Isabelle, for all the support that you give to your students!"
After graduating from UC Davis, Jackie wants to continue developing her personal and professional skill sets. She wants to continue exploring systems engineering, life support systems, flight software of spacecraft, and test engineering. "Since space is such a different environment than earth, we need to understand how material, technology, and humans are affected and work carefully and strategically to accomplish missions". Jackie is also interested in pursuing graduate school. We congratulate Jackie on her academic and professional success.