5/2/2023 Debra Levey Larson
Written by Debra Levey Larson
The Lisle Abbot Rose award is a unique award because it celebrates technical excellence as well as cultural breadth, depth, and sensitivity. This past week, The Grainger College of Engineering honored this year’s recipient, AE senior Stephanie Dutra. Earning a major in aerospace engineering and a minor in journalism, while maintaining an impressive grade point average, Dutra is a great example of how science and liberal arts can complement one another.
One way Dutra has already blended her interests in STEM and writing is through the educational outreach component of the Illinois Space Society. She worked on a science communication team to design and organize an annual science-fiction writing and drawing contest for children. She also organized and volunteered for Illinois Space Week, a week-long aerospace educational outreach event for local students.
“My minor in journalism introduced me to perspectives outside of STEM and strengthened my communication skills, both of which complement my engineering degree,” Dutra said. “With the program’s emphasis on current events and my ever-growing understanding of the global impacts of technology, I became driven to design for positive social impact within aerospace while learning the technical know-how to achieve that goal.”
Dutra said her liberal arts education helps her consider the broader effects that technology can have on communities when she approaches technical problems. For example, her research in autonomy to learn about controls gives her the technical expertise she needs to advocate for human-centered design and proper integration of autonomy in communities, including other countries. She interned virtually in Brazil at a tech park and worked with Brazilian students and companies. Immediately after spring semester ends, she will participate in a study-abroad trip to Brazil.
“Especially as an engineer, learning from other people’s experiences is critical to producing more inclusive and impactful designs,” she said. “I plan to bring this global perspective to my future work and advocate for those voices as I enter the aerospace R&D industry.”
Looking back on her aerospace/journalism education at Illinois, Dutra now sees how the perspectives she gained in her humanities courses supported every project she worked on.
“Through valuing and prioritizing liberal arts and cultural education throughout college, I’ve coupled that knowledge with my strength in engineering design and leadership such that I can design for diversity and inclusivity in aerospace,” Dutra said.
Lisle Abbot Rose was a former director of public information for the College of Engineering, established a fund in his memory from which an award is made annually to recognize an outstanding senior student in engineering. In 1994, Mrs. Mildred Maddux Rose, his widow, endowed the award in perpetuity.