• Patti Grace Smith Fellow, Class of 2025

• California Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, ‘27

• Host Institution: Vast

I am Noah Howell, a second year student at the California Institute of Technology, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Engineering. I have been engaged in aerospace since middle school, learning the ins and outs of space mission design through various opportunities and building intuition as an engineer through robotics and various small engineering projects. At Caltech, I have been able to further learn the fundamentals of mechanical engineering and design, and am involved in the Caltech Air and Outer Space club where I was a part of the 2024 NASA Big Idea Challenge team. Through our efforts we were able to gain placement as finalists and presented our work at the competition’s summit at UNLV last November and at the Lunar Space Innovation Consortium. I am also involved in the club’s rover team where we compete in the University Rover Challenge and Canadian Rover Challenge. I have been given incredible opportunities to explore and advance my knowledge in engineering for which I am very thankful. I hope to use these experiences in the field to help foster an aerospace environment that encourages getting out of your comfort zone and finding your passion within the field.