Kalyn Hopkins earns fellowship aimed at promoting equity in aerospace

A Buckeye engineer has been selected for the inaugural Zed Factor Fellowship Class of 2021.

Aerospace engineering major Kalyn Hopkins is one of just 23 undergraduate students nationally who have been named fellows by the non-profit program dedicated to providing access to the aerospace industry to aspiring professionals from underrepresented communities.

In its first year, the Zed Factor Fellowship program received more than 180 applications from 115 academic institutions, ultimately selecting 23 fellows through a rigorous selection process. Each fellow not only demonstrates impressive technical and leadership capabilities, but will also conduct a customized community service project that will bring together their passion for industry and their communities to expand the impact of the program. Fellows will be placed in either a summer or fall internship program and will develop their community service project in the 2021-2022 academic year. 

Hopkins, a fourth-year student, will intern at Wisk Aero as a systems safety engineer. At Ohio State, she has held leadership positions for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals and National Society of Black Engineers, along with being a part of the Buckeye Space Launch Initiative.

The Zed Factor Fellowship was founded by Carie Lemack, Tanya Harrison, Therese Jones and Karina Perez. The founders are passionate about diversifying the aerospace community to include more cultures and ideas, and take personal interest in fostering the development of each Zed Fellow.

Visit zedfactorfellowship.org to view the full list of 2021 fellows.