Ryan named aerospace engineering student marshal
4/22/2019
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Gracie Ryan has been selected as the student marshal for the aerospace engineering baccalaureate degree program at the Penn State College of Engineering spring commencement ceremony on May 3. Ryan will receive a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering.
She has chosen Sven Schmitz, associate professor of aerospace engineering, to be her faculty escort at the ceremony.
College of Engineering student marshals are selected for their outstanding academic achievements and contributions to engineering student life.
A 2015 graduate of Butler Area Senior High School in Butler, Pennsylvania, she is the daughter of Todd and Julie Ryan of Chicora, Pennsylvania.
Ryan’s academic honors include the President’s Freshman Award, the President Sparks Award and the Evan Pugh Scholar Award (junior year).
She has also been the recipient of multiple scholarships while at Penn State, including the College of Engineering Research Initiative (CERI) Scholarship, the David B. Lee Renaissance Scholarship, the Paul Morrow Endowed Scholarship in the College of Engineering, the Fred and Dawn McLaren Scholarship in the College of Engineering and the Richard W. Leonhard Aerospace Engineering Scholarship.
As part of the CERI program, Ryan conducted undergraduate research on low-temperature plasma physics in which she modeled electrostatic simulations to study the behavior of electrons in plasma to optimize the design of a plasma jet. Following the completion of the CERI program, she was selected to attend the Undergraduate Research at the Capitol-Pennsylvania Conference in Harrisburg, where she presented her research to Pennsylvania legislators at the Pennsylvania Capitol Building.
Ryan’s internship experience includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Ames Research Center, where she worked as an intelligent systems intern formalizing the process of writing unmanned aircraft systems safety documents. She also interned at Lockheed Martin Space, where she built system architecture models for the Lucy spacecraft mission.
Her extracurricular activities included serving as treasurer (2017-2019) for the Pregnancy Resource Clinic Club in State College, Pennsylvania.
Following graduation, Ryan will join the National Air and Space Intelligence Center as an aerospace engineer.
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