What does an engineer look like? For many young people, narrow ideas about engineering can make it difficult to imagine themselves belonging in the field. They may believe they need to have spent childhood taking machines apart, building inventions, or effortlessly excelling in every math class.
AstraFemina Board Member Dr. Ashley Williams once carried many of those same doubts. Her path to engineering began not with certainty, but with a sense of wonder inspired by Apollo 13, a love of mathematics she did not yet recognize as talent, and mentors who saw her potential before she could see it herself.
That path would eventually take Ashley from studying aerospace engineering and applied mathematics to earning a Ph.D. at Caltech, solving complex challenges within the space industry, and leading the team whose work helps make Emergency SOS via satellite possible on iPhone. In her own words, Ashley shares how curiosity, creativity, persistence, and the encouragement of others helped her discover not only what she could do, but exactly who she is.
