Aerospace Engineering senior Rebecca Hill wins Marian Sarah Parker Prize
Congratulations to Rebecca Hill, winner of the Marian Sarah Parker Prize.
Congratulations to Rebecca Hill (BSE AE ‘18), winner of the College of Engineering’s Marian Sarah Parker Prize! The prize is awarded to an outstanding woman undergraduate who demonstrates academic excellence, leadership, and outstanding contributions to the University and to her community.
On winning the Marian Sarah Parker Prize, Hill is grateful for her experience in the Aerospace Engineering Department:
“I’m really honored to be selected for the award! It definitely wouldn’t have been possible without all of the support that I’ve received leading up to this point – from the department’s nomination to the faculty and student mentors who have helped me countless times over the last few years, there’s an amazing support system in the aerospace department. I’m excited to represent the department at the awards ceremony in March.”
Hill is a strong leader within the Aerospace Engineering Department, acting as President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) student chapter. Before becoming President, Hill coordinated Aerospace Day, an outreach event held every semester that encourages local youth to pursue aerospace engineering. She recognizes that coordinating Aerospace Day helped her find her niche as a student leader:
“Coordinating Aerospace Day with AIAA really helped me develop my leadership skills; taking on responsibility early on meant that I learned a lot about myself as a leader and about the event itself, and I loved the opportunity to develop Aerospace Day and bring in new components and events.”
Now recognizable as a standout student leader within the department as co-founder of Women in Aeronautics and Astronautics and President of AIAA, Hill enjoys mentoring and inspiring the next generation of student leaders. For her, being a leader means giving back to her community:
“It’s through these leadership positions that I’ve been able to mentor younger students, and I’ve tried totake advantage of every opportunity to not only develop my own leadership skills but also help my peers build on theirs, as well.”
After graduating this April, Hill will continue to Boeing’s Mukilteo, WA facility as a Flight Sciences Engineering intern. She will then return to Ann Arbor for the Sequential Undergraduate/Graduate Studies (SUGS) program, in which she will focus on Gas Dynamics for her Master’s degree.
