Preparing for Takeoff: Aerospace Engineering Student Lands Aviation Co-op

Journey to Aerospace Engineering

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Faith Lee (’26) was accustomed to having NASA’s Mission Control and the Bush Intercontinental Airport just down the road, instilling her love for aviation and aerospace from childhood. When she chose to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with its Daytona Beach Campus located right next door to the Daytona Beach International Airport and not far from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, she found the similarities to her hometown to be a major selling point.

“Back at home, I did everything in my power to get not just integrated more into the commercial aviation realm but somehow into space as well,” she said.

After getting her Student Pilot Certificate through the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals while still in high school, Lee came to Embry-Riddle as an Aeronautical Science major with the intention of pursuing her private pilot’s license.

Once she arrived on campus, Lee felt that her classmates had an intense passion for piloting that she did not match. With her love for aviation itself still intact and on the search for a program that would spark joy, Lee completed a project in one of her courses where she assembled her own miniature glider plane. This led her to the program that truly matched her interests: Aerospace Engineering.

Representation Matters

As her love for her studies grew and she acclimated to college life, Lee joined various on-campus organizations. She is a student marketing manager, a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, a tour guide for the College of Engineering, a member of the leadership team for New Student Orientation, the Public Relations Chair for the Black Students Association and the Communications Lead for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

In NSBE, Lee found the community she had always longed for. As a young Black woman in an industry just beginning to diversify, she often felt that she couldn’t be unapologetically herself around her peers. When she joined NSBE, she found a group of people with similar experiences, with the main goal of empowering one another.

“Whether it be uplifting ourselves socially, academically or professionally, I find it really important to be a part of a group that will allow you to express yourself,” Lee shared. “I love how in every meeting... we always say our mission statement, which is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”

As the Communications Lead for NSBE, Lee leads the charge in all things publicity, marketing and inter-organization coordination with other groups on campus. 

“In my position, I want to make sure we establish a place where everybody is welcome,” she said.

Lee cites one of the most important aspects of her on-campus work is showing incoming students and families that a Black female engineer can not only succeed here but thrive.

“We not only exist but we are able to be in a leadership position. I’ve talked to incoming parents, whether it be a parent of a female student, Black student or Black female student. They’ll say, ‘I feel like it is so nice to see a female doing this’ or, ‘a Black student doing this,’” she shared. “And I realize the reason why they're saying it is because they don't have that sort of representation back at home. So, they don't know how to envision their child in that position.”

Internship and Co-op Opportunities

After completing an internship with Spirit Aerosystems, where she gained hands-on experience in design engineering, Lee was offered an internship with Airbus, which she initially accepted. 

When the opportunity arose to attend a career fair hosted by the Society of Women Engineers in her hometown of Houston, Texas, Lee couldn’t miss out on the chance to visit home while creating valuable industry connections among both peers and professionals.

While perusing the career fair, Lee ended up sitting down with a liaison engineer who works for Delta Air Lines and interviewing for a position that same day. Soon after, she got a message with an offer for the last spot in Delta’s liaison engineering co-op.

With opportunities lined up at what many students would describe as their dream companies and the ability to choose only one, Lee did not want to disappoint those who helped her land the Airbus internship. When she broke the news to the Airbus team that she was heading to Delta, they responded with encouragement and enthusiasm.

“What I realized is regardless of where you end up, you'll have so many people in your corner. I think I sent four of them a message on LinkedIn, and they were like, ‘oh my gosh, Delta's one of our biggest customers. You're going to have so much fun. Make sure you come back to Airbus.’ That was pretty much the response across all corners,” she shared.

At Delta, Lee will train in Tech Ops as a Liaison Engineer for three semesters, then return to her studies at Embry-Riddle.

How to Succeed

Lee shared the advice she gives to prospective students as she leads tours; it’s okay to take your educational and career journey at your own pace, don’t underestimate the importance of networking and finding mentors (people really do want to share their knowledge with you) and never forgetting to take time for yourself.

“Giving time for yourself is beautiful,” she said with a smile.