Discovering Pitt Space and the Power of Research
STEMnetX fellowships and Pitt research experiences help two mechanical engineering students step confidently into the future
Photo above: Akriti Mishra and Samiya Henry at the STEMnetX bootcamp.
Little did students Samiya Henry and Akriti Mishra realize that a building on the edge of the University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus holds a doorway to outer space.
After enrolling in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, a program called STEMnetX would lead them to that doorway in Schenley Place, home of Pitt Space. They’d taken different routes to the Swanson School, but both shared a passion for space exploration.
“All this time,” Samiya said, “I didn’t realize my biggest interest had been right down the street from our engineering classes.”
All their roads led to the Swanson School
Samiya, a Philadelphia native, has always loved space. “In fourth grade, when we reached the space unit, my teacher got 100 percent of my attention,” she said.
Her family later moved to Harrisburg, where her high school algebra instructor screened Hidden Figures. The movie, about three Black women who worked at NASA during the Space Race, gave her new insight into her future.
“I know it might sound cliché,” she said, “but that was the moment I realized there was a place for me in physics and space engineering too.”
Samiya would go on to earn a BA in physics from Duquesne as part of a three-plus-two dual-degree major program. After her third year, she came to Pitt to pursue a BS in mechanical engineering and a certificate in Innovation, Product Design, and Entrepreneurship.
Akriti’s journey began on the other side of the globe. In 2016, during her freshman year in high school, she and her family emigrated from Janakpur, Nepal, to Pittsburgh.
Akriti loved astronomy, but at Pitt she followed in her older sister’s footsteps, studying pre-med. “I was all set on becoming a doctor, but after my first year, I felt lost. My friends told me about engineering, and I was intrigued because I already liked physics.”
Launching to Pitt Space
In the spring of 2024, Associate Professor Matthew Barry, with a reputation for seeing the potential in his students, told them about summer fellowship opportunities through STEMnetX. The nonprofit initiative was developed by Rama Bala, a faculty member in the Pitt Space program, to promote STEM education and careers in underserved communities.
Akriti and Samiya applied, were accepted, and in June traveled to Washington, PA, for a weeklong STEM boot camp at William & Jefferson College.
It was, Samiya recalled, “an intense week,” with daily Python coding courses, seminars, and networking. However, one day the participants in STEMnetX’s Space Engineering Pathways pilot program left for a tour of Pitt, which was when Akriti and Samiya discovered the Pitt Space program in Schenley Place. Their experience was a revelation.
“It was inspiring to meet graduate students and professors involved in projects that were on the International Space Station,” Akriti said.
Schenley Place also houses the NSF Center for Space, High-Performance & Resilient Computing (SHREC), the nation's leading academic research center in the field of computer and electrical engineering for mission-critical systems, from spacecraft to supercomputers. SHREC is “mission control” for experiments currently in orbit on the ISS.
“I thought, ‘This is crazy.’ NASA is my dream job—even if I just work there one summer as an intern,” Samiya said. “The trip was part two of my Hidden Figures moment because I realized how many people around me have similar interests and how the school fuels those interests.”
Another window into the real world
For Akriti and Samiya, STEMnetX has offered an out-of-this-world experience, while the opportunities they’ve had at the Swanson School have made engineering more tangible.
Samiya for example was a MEMS Facilitating Inclusive Research Experiences (FIRE) Summer Research Intern, working with Associate Professor Patrick Smolinski. She studied quadricep tendons in ACL reconstruction surgery, testing their ultimate strengths, and applying different forces to simulate how the tendons would react in a body.
“My passion is with space, but my interests in engineering are wide ranging,” said Samiya, who will resume the research this fall. “In the lab, we’re working with cadavers and collaborating with orthopedic surgeons to advance understanding of quadricep grafts.”
In 2024, Akriti began working with Barry, who is developing a next-generation radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Akriti models and analyzes thermal insulators under different conditions and is helping construct a numerical model of plate fins on the thermoelectric generator. “I want to understand every aspect of what I’m doing,” she said.
Stepping confidently into the future
In the spring, Akriti’s and Samiya’s paths will again diverge. Samiya, who wants to be a design engineer in the aerospace and aviation industry, is taking a quick detour to law school.
“I want to study intellectual property, which will go hand in hand with my engineering design career.”
Akriti plans to continue her research in grad school. “The STEMnetX program and my work with Dr. Barry have combined my two main interests: space and research.
“Research is such an important aspect of a student’s experience. I’m so glad I’ve had this opportunity to understand why I’m doing this—why I want to do it. I know I’m on the right path, and in my graduate school interviews, I can show that this is what I’ve wanted,” Akriti said.
“And I love it.”