Release date: December 11, 2023

This interview is a part of the Polish and Flourish series—where we speak with inspiring individuals living in the US who are Polish, have Polish roots, or have lived in Poland and are deeply inspired by it.

In the interview with Maja Steczkowska, Deputy Director at the Polish Cultural Institute New York, aerospace engineer and visiting student researcher at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Julia Stankiewicz speaks about how her dream of becoming an engineer came true and how she became part of the NASA JPL team. She also revealed what are her plans for the future and what she is currently working on. Learn more about the overall experience of working for NASA and find out what is Julia’s advice if You are just beginning Your adventure with science.

Watch the video here:

Biography

Julia Stankiewicz is a current visiting student researcher at NASA JPL where she works on mapping environmental disasters and building a drilling rig to support Mars exploration activities. She holds a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Manchester in the UK and is currently pursuing a Masters in the same field at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. Julia is also an International Space University alumni and a 2020 Brooke Owens Fellow. In her free time she loves to learn foreign languages and figure skate.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was founded in 1936 by Caltech researchers. The laboratory is now owned and sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and administered and managed by the California Institute of Technology. It is a federally funded research and development center in Pasadena, California, United States. 

The laboratory’s primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecarft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions.

Julia’s research at the NASA JPL is being sponsored by: Rafał Brzoska Foundation, Fundacja Rozwoju Talentów / Talent Development Foundation, Fundacja im. Anny Pasek / Anna Pasek Foundation, Technical University of Munich and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.