Alumni Spotlight: Aiming for the stars with Megan Bennett '20

Thanks to her electrical engineering degree from Virginia Tech, Megan Bennett EE ’20 is headed to the moon.

Not literally, of course.

As an electrical design engineer at Blue Origin, Bennett works on the lunar development team and transportation unit, where she is building a lunar habitat and lander that will host NASA-selected astronauts to live and work in space. 

Bennett credits her time at Virginia Tech as one of the reasons her career has successfully blasted off in the aviation industry as an electrical engineer.

Get to know Megan in our engineering Q&A!

Why electrical engineering? 

I chose electrical engineering because, in my opinion, it is the most universal and diverse engineering degree you can earn. It started with volunteering at a humanoid lab and before I knew it, I was working on experimental aviation, and now I'm working on the Lunar Lander. So, it’s a career that has taken me places I never thought I would go and it’s a degree that I think is completely robust and enabled me to take on these challenges.

What does being a woman in engineering mean to you?

Throughout my career being a woman has meant different things. At first it was a little nerve wracking, but being a woman in engineering has just enabled me to have a different perspective, which is really valuable. I feel very empowered to partake in talks (like this interview) and say that it's really important for other women to be in the room. I'm happy to say that since joining this new team I am one of many, many women. It feels amazing to be in a room where immediately I feel more comfortable because I recognize that representation around me.

What are your thoughts about engineering being a global and interdisciplinary field?

Obviously, engineering will never not be interdisciplinary. That’s why when going to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, it’s really important to emphasize that "Polytechnic" aspect. You know, I've never had a project where I wasn't even considering another discipline, whether civil engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science. 

I found that at Virginia Tech, I have been so enabled to take the mentalities that were really encouraged, like at the AMP Lab, for example, which is the autonomy, mastering, prototyping lab, and is fully funded by ECE. I got my start teaching other students how to solder – I think it’s a really important skill – and because of that, I was able to grow these relationships with other students. I was able to see projects that blew my mind. And I think that when I was approached about going on a project on the other side of the world in Southeast Asia, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

How should the engineering field embrace or grow in sustainable practices, especially as we scale semiconductor production? 

I think the electrical engineering field is absolutely notorious that once something gets smaller, you throw the other thing away. And when working on these projects I have so many instances where the package for the component was just slightly too small, or it was unusable because the design or specs changed, or the part didn’t fit. That’s so much of manufacturing, but especially in electrical engineering. A lot of the materials we use aren't recyclable yet.

To solve this, I think it's about thinking about where to go next. And I think a huge part of that could be the opportunities in space. There's so many materials that are just floating around, and as long as we can figure out how to harness that energy and how to do so sustainably, it could be a complete game changer for the future of humanity.

So what kind of impact do you want to have as an engineer in the future? 

I've always been very environmentally driven and I don't think that's changed at all over the years. For example, at Blue Origin, which is where I get to spend most of my time now, one of the biggest motivators for all the other engineers here is designing space systems for earth. The goal is not to take all this technology and just throw it out into space and hope that it still works; it's about creating a sustainable architecture that will enable generations to use that technology, live in it, whatever it may be. We are developing space so we can protect Earth, and that’s incredibly important to me.