Hannah Nabavi

When I was a kid my dad inspired me to study aerospace engineering by showing me the stars.

At night he would take me outside in our backyard and we would stargaze together, and try to memorize as many constellations as we could. I was drawn to the sheer power of the cosmos. Now, I’m a master’s student in Stanford’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

I came to Stanford because it’s a place where cutting-edge technology and industry come together. There is really no better place for engineering if you have entrepreneurship aspirations because Stanford is a place where your impact won’t just be theoretical. I was inspired when I first came because I saw that the courses aren’t just engineering – they’re engineering for a purpose, engineering for an impact greater than yourself.

To me, space represents the possibility of genuine and wide-scale impact. I’m not interested in using space solely to advance technology or a small group of people’s interests, but to help ordinary people and solve some of the largest problems facing humanity. For example, employing satellites to monitor climate and detect fires, or leveraging the microgravity environment of space to find new medical solutions like life-saving drugs or build new materials.

As part of my master’s program, I take and assist classes that cover every aspect of the space environment, from guidance and navigation systems to spacecraft design and applied aerodynamics. I’m learning everything I can to help unlock the next frontier of space. That includes extracurricular activities like looking at opportunities for space entrepreneurship, a passion I get to explore as a Threshold Venture Fellow at Stanford. The Threshold Venture Fellow program selects 12 students each year to get a front-row seat to startup creation, which is the kind of fast-paced innovation I’m enthusiastic about and want to see more women lead. 

The aerospace industry is male-dominated. There are a lot of reasons for that and a lot of biases women face in the field. This is a topic I’ve been passionate about since high school when I started STEMinism, a program that allowed me to service underserved schools in Sonoma County by teaching young girls about scientific concepts and inspiring them to take up space in space. It feels full circle now that I am in this Stanford program and in an advisory role. When I was younger, my dad would show me important figures, particularly women, who were significant in the field of science. He introduced me to not just recent pioneers but women like Hypatia, an astronomer and mathematician who was the head of the philosophy school in Alexandria, Egypt. It made a huge impact on me to see a woman lead a scientific field. I know it’s harder to imagine yourself in a particular role or to pursue an industry if you don’t see people like you in those roles already, so I really hope to be that person for someone one day. 

One of the things I like most about Stanford is how highly interdisciplinary it is. There’s nothing stopping me as an engineer from taking a class in the law school to explore the laws or ethics behind my aerospace pursuits. Growing up, debate was one of my favorite hobbies because I love to look at topics from a multitude of perspectives. That comes in handy when thinking about a new industry like commercial space, where there’s an abundance of innovation and new questions being asked every day. I love that Stanford lets me explore both my academic and personal interests and helps me see how they can strengthen each other. I feel like I’m becoming a better thinker here. 

I’ve been walking everywhere on campus since my bike broke in the second week of school, and it’s just so beautiful and relaxing to take it all in on foot. My walks give me time to think and to plan out my dreams. It’s very therapeutic as well, because life can be stressful, especially when you set big goals for yourself, so it’s nice to have an activity that lets me unwind. It doesn’t hurt that I’m also getting in my steps.