Zenith Fellow, Class of 2022
University of New Brunswick, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
Host Organization: Wyvern
Mentor: Joanne Leung

Jagriti Luitel is in her second year at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) studying Mechanical Engineering. Born and raised in Nepal, she recalls an innate curiosity, a sense of courage, and the desire for creative expression instilled early on.

She found that Space Exploration intersects all of these from a young age but her interest in the field turned into a deep lifelong fascination after the 7.8 magnitudes 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The earthquake experience introduced her to the earth applications of space technologies, especially for disaster management in developing countries. To explore this further, she became a United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Space4Women mentee.

Arriving in Canada at age 15, she began volunteering as a research assistant in the physics department at UNB conducting scientific journal searches on the Martian atmosphere. She was also involved with the Air Cadets program primarily on the aviation side. At university, she founded and led a project called StratoFredericton successfully launching a High-Altitude Weather balloon 103,000 ft into the stratosphere to take pictures of the earth from the edge of space, to spread climate awareness, and to inspire leadership in STEM for girls. In the summer after her first year, she began working with CubeSat NB; her university’s first satellite mission Violet conducting mission simulations and orbital predictions using the STK software. She was also selected to participate in the Advanced PoSSUM Space Academy to train as a citizen scientist-astronaut and explore upper-atmospheric research, bioastronautics, and human space flight operations. With these experiences and many more to come, she hopes to go to space someday.

Outside of research and engineering, she is active in leadership and community involvement. She worked as a Peer Support Centre Coordinator coordinating 20+ volunteers to strategize mental health resource allocation for the 8,000 undergraduate student body, was the Speaker’s Director for TEDxUNB 2021, Junior Director at UNB Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), and volunteer dancer with the Multicultural Society. She has also been an avid debater placing 2nd in the Atlantic Engineering Competition (AEC) and qualifying for the Canadian Engineering Competition 2021 (CEC). In 2021, she also became a finalist for the Brooke Owens Fellowship.

Beyond her career aspirations, Jagriti loves painting, adventures, meditation, writing, and meaningful conversations. As a Zenith Fellow, she is elated to join Wyvern as a Satellite Systems intern and hopes to keep her curiosity, courage, and creativity alive!