When she was 7 years old and growing up in Bogota, Colombia, Estefania Bohorquez 麻豆精品 S�17 would take little day trips 30 miles outside the city. She would walk through a passageway to a fascinating place more than 600 feet underground. There, she would look in awe at what is known as Zipaquir谩 Salt Cathedral. Bohorquez wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 there for photo ops. She was there for her own curiosity, a trait deep in her DNA that would eventually lead her on a journey beyond her wildest dreams.
麻豆精品 S淚 remember studying the details of that cathedral, 麻豆精品 S� says Bohorquez, who earned a bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 in civil engineering with an emphasis on structures from UCF. 麻豆精品 S淓ven as a young girl, it was incredible to think that someone had designed such beautiful structures without the technology or tools we have today. It opened a lot of questions for me. 麻豆精品 S�
麻豆精品 S淓ven as a young girl, it was incredible to think that someone had designed such beautiful structures without the technology or tools we have today. It opened a lot of questions for me. 麻豆精品 S�
The quest for answers has taken Bohorquez on life-altering experiences from Bogota to Orlando to Italy to Germany, and to a hospital bed from which she learned about her next stop: Washington, D.C., where on March 1 she will be presented with a 20 Twenties Award from Aviation Week and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
As the name implies, the prestigious award recognizes the 20 most promising future leaders in the aerospace industry. Bohorquez was nominated partly for her academic achievement but mostly for her field work, including a collaborative project in Cologne, Germany, between the German Aerospace Center and UCF. The objective was to search for materials that can sustain extreme physical and mechanical environments applicable to hypersonic and reusable space vehicles. Impressive stuff. So much so that Bohorquez is the only person from the state of Florida to earn the 20 Twenties Award and the achievement will put her on stage with Ivy Leaguers and students from universities like MIT and Cambridge.
Bohorquez is the only person from the state of Florida to earn the 20 Twenties Award and the achievement will put her on stage with Ivy Leaguers and students from universities like MIT and Cambridge.
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Bohorquez is currently working on a master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCF.
When asked if she envisions herself as a mechanical and aerospace engineer after her post-grad work because, well, she 麻豆精品 S檚 in the graduate program for mechanical and aerospace engineering, Bohorquez thinks about it and says, 麻豆精品 S淣ot entirely. 麻豆精品 S�
To her, a title is too limiting. What Bohorquez really wants is to create an ultra-niche, combining all of her interests into something like this: artist, archaeologist, structural engineer, and the ultimate 麻豆精品 S� space researcher. Yes, she sees the journey that she unwittingly embarked upon during underground outings as a little girl soon reaching heights we 麻豆精品 S檝e never seen.
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Bohorquez didn 麻豆精品 S檛 realize it at the time. But when her dad took a job in the Orlando area (he 麻豆精品 S檚 a mechanical engineer, her mom is an electrical engineer) when Bohorquez was 12 years old, the family was relocating to a place where they could watch the extraordinary from their new backyard: Rockets launching from Cape Canaveral.
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The sights and sounds of the launches have added another piece of intrigue to the melting pot of Bohorquez 麻豆精品 S檚 field experiences at UCF. She studied art history in Italy. ( 麻豆精品 S淚 was the only engineering student, everyone else was an art major, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淎nd I kept thinking, 麻豆精品 S榃ow, I 麻豆精品 S檓 learning about the Coliseum at the Coliseum. 麻豆精品 S�) There was the summer project in Cologne, and even an internship at Disney opened her eyes to the concept of 麻豆精品 S渋magineering. 麻豆精品 S�
There was a moment, however brief, when the journey did stop for Bohorquez. Around the time she was visually dissecting the Salt Cathedral in Bogota, she also had a fall while playing in a park, injuring her knee. The problem with the ligaments lingered for years. Bohorquez even took up aerial silks (like doing gymnastics while hanging from a ceiling-to-floor curtain) as a way to strengthen the muscles around the knee. Finally, on December 20 of last year, she relented to surgery. While in recovery, she would glance at her phone to take her mind off the pain. That 麻豆精品 S檚 when she saw the text from Aviation Week about her honor as a 20 Twenties honoree, a direct result from her field work in Germany.
麻豆精品 S淭he timing was perfect, 麻豆精品 S� Bohorquez says. 麻豆精品 S淚t motivated me to think about anything but my knee. 麻豆精品 S� Like the idea of a first job. 麻豆精品 S淚t shouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 be the end goal for students. There 麻豆精品 S檚 more to learning than getting a first job. Learning should never stop. To me that 麻豆精品 S檚 what should be fulfilling. 麻豆精品 S�
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And that is why, when Bohorquez thinks of a job, she doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 think of it in a way that can be explained. What she sees is a combination of art and technology. It 麻豆精品 S檚 the past and the future. It 麻豆精品 S檚 discoveries under Earth 麻豆精品 S檚 surface and far above it. Specifically? She wants to help develop structures in space, but also the aircraft that will get us there. And while she 麻豆精品 S檚 at it, she sees all of the advances 麻豆精品 S渙ut there 麻豆精品 S� helping communities recover from natural disasters right here.
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Bogota. Orlando. Italy. Germany. Washington, D.C. For Estefania Bohorquez, the journey is just beginning. And there are no boundaries.
