IAWA scholarship 2023 for Space Flight student Margot Winters
Every year, the International Aviation Women's Association (IAWA) awards a scholarship to a female student from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. This year, the USD 5,000 scholarship goes to Master student Space Flight, Margot Winters: "The IAWA scholarship is a unique opportunity for me to build a network of international female experts in the field of aerospace engineering - an opportunity I will seize with both hands."
Margot Winters: passion for human spaceflight and space medicine
Margot Winters is an Honours Master's student in Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft, specialising in Space Flight. Her journey into the world of human spaceflight was sparked by Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne and strengthened after winning the Flemish Astronomy Olympiad, the prize allowing her to perform observations in the Mercator Telescope on La Palma. Later she pursued a double Bachelor's degree in Physics and Mathematics at KU Leuven, which was twice received magna cum laude.
Busy year
For Margot, the coming academic year is dominated by no less than two internships and the graduation project. She will do her Master's internship at the Systems Engineering department of the aeronautical university ISAE SUPAERO in Toulouse. As part of the Honours Programme, she will then do an internship at the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK. There, she will collaborate on the heart-on-chip project, which studies the ageing of the heart in space. Winters will study how heart cells in different solutions respond to high radiation and microgravity. Her Master's thesis project will take place at the European Astronaut Center of ESA in Cologne. Here, she will work on the prototyping and testing of an innovative space radiation shielding suit for astronauts in the ISS.
Even alongside her studies in Delft, Margot Winters is active in space exploration. For instance, she launched two of her own research experiments on stratospheric balloons in Poland and presented their results at the conference of the International Society for Gravitational Physiology past July. She was also active at ESERO Belgium on the development of a Climate Detectives outreach project for secondary school pupils, works towards closing the space gender data gap at the Space Generation Advisory Council and she writes STEM-related articles. Margot Winters: "I strongly believe in inclusiveness of STEM education and look forward to learning from talented women in the aerospace industry during IAWA conference."
International Aviation Women's Association
Every year, the International Aviation Women's Association IAWA awards a scholarship at a select number of universities to a female student studying aviation and/or aerospace. TU Delft is one of these universities. Christine De Gagné, who in daily life works for Airbus as Airline Marketing Director Europe, chairs the IAWA Scholarship Committee: "The caliber of candidates and their presentations this year exhibited a remarkable standard, rendering the selection process a challenging task. Notably, Margot distinguished herself through her exemplary essay and video submission. She adeptly elucidated her profound understanding of IAWA's mission to 'connect, inspire, and lead', demonstrating a keen sense of self-awareness concerning her prospective career trajectory, and captivatingly showcasing her impressive ardor for the aerospace industry.” Winters will receive USD 5,000 to spend on education. Previous winners at TU Delft are: Gaia Roncalli (2022), Leanne van Dam (2021), Giulia Gatti (2020), Julia Radius (2019) and Nadine Duursma (2018).