We all have our dreams.

What we dreamt of doing in the future when we were still young.

Like many kids, I dreamt of being an astronaut when I grew up.

I still have plenty of growing up to do, and I am still on the journey to try and achieve my dream.

In 2014, I completed my MEng in Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London. There, I achieved many things other than my First Class (Honours), including:

• working with Dr Mirko Kovac of the (then) fledgling Aerial Robotics Lab to co-direct a project with fifteen other students on bio-inspired autonomous construction.
• a Master’s project working with Prof. Paul Robinson on the development of shape memory carbon fibre composites for potential space applications.
• leading the Outreach efforts as a founding member of ICSEDS, Imperial College’s chapter of the global “Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.”

Soon after graduating, I joined Teach First to take the next step after my outreach work and train to become a fully qualified Teacher of Science. Not only did this allow me to spread my love for Physics and all things Space, it enabled me to give back to my community in Leicester, helping to support and raise aspirations amongst students not too dissimilar to myself back then.

Having completed my two years with Teach First, I took the next step in my journey to become an astronaut; attending the University of Oxford to study for a DPhil in Engineering Science, researching the high strain properties of particulate composites.

During my DPhil/PhD, I’ve had the opportunity to support many others to succeed through their time in grad school, through:

• being voted as the Student President of Wolfson College, Oxford to be the voice of over 600 students
• sitting as Chair of the Graduate Student Committee in the Engineering Science department representing all the grad students in my department and acting on their concerns
• creating several campaign groups for improving the experience of grad students

As I continue my journey to fulfil my dreams of becoming an astronaut, I have learned many skills and have many experiences to share with others.

By sharing with other aspiring and current grad students, I want to empower them to be able to engineer their future.

A future where their goals and dreams are fulfilled.

Join me as we go on this journey to make our dreams come true.

The journey to the stars continues.