Hailu Daniel
Patti Grace Smith Fellow, Class of 2021
University of Maryland , Aerospace Engineering, ‘24
Host Institution: ABL Space Systems
Hailu is a third-year aerospace engineering student at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). With the PGSF, Hailu interned at ABL Space Systems as a Launch and Test Intern. He has the opportunity to work on improving the test facility and witnessing the operations side of testing. At a young age, Hailu has always been interested in space. Before coming to college, Hailu had his eye on different occupations: ranging from being a pilot in the U.S. Air Force to studying astronomy. It was not until tenth grade in high school when he learned about aerospace engineering. In his engineering class, he was assigned a project that would require him to research different colleges that had the major he was interested in. After some heavy research, he found that aerospace engineering covered everything that he was interested in. He also saw that the degree was offered at UMD. From that point forward, he knew that he wanted to go to UMD and pursue aerospace engineering. He did not know that much about it, did not have any connections he could talk to about aerospace engineering, nor has anyone in his family history studied aerospace engineering. Nevertheless, he knew in his heart that he wanted to study it. Unfortunately for him, when it came time to apply to different colleges, he was not accepted to UMD. He went on to attend UMBC for a year, studying mechanical engineering. He had intentions to transfer after two years but realized that he could not wait that long. So, he made the hard choice to transfer schools to pursue his dream. Hailu’s goal from day one is to inspire others to pursue their dreams. He believes that everyone can achieve great things, they just need an extra push or role model to guide them. He wants to be a symbol of hope for everyone, not just engineering majors. He hopes that when people see his journey, they are inspired and motivated to pursue their goals. Hailu loves to serve as a mentor and teach people new things.
Fun Fact:
Hailu ran Track and Field and Cross Country throughout high school. For a short time period, he ran for UMBC D1 Track team competing in the 400 meters dash and 60 meters Hurdle dash. He also did AFROTC for a year, where he was inducted into the Arnold Air Society in his spring semester. When he wants to relax, he enjoys watching Netflix or a random YouTube video. He can also solve a Rubik's Cube.