I knew I wanted to be in aerospace when I was seven years old and watched Toy Story with my dad - I fell in love with the character Buzz Lightyear. My dad, an electrical engineer, further instilled a passion for aerospace and STEM by taking me to science and space museums, showing me how to work on cars and letting me visit his work at an electrical powerplant. I decided to follow in his footsteps and pursue a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, his alma mater. However, my dream to become an engineer in the aerospace industry nearly came to a halt early on.
During my first semester in college, I felt out of place - I was one of only four females in my engineering program. I also observed that none of my professors or teaching assistants were women, making me feel like I did not belong in the field. Engineering classes were challenging from a technical perspective and feeling like I did not fit in made it even more difficult to be successful. The December of my first semester, I received my final grades: a 1.5 GPA and academic probation. I was so embarrassed to tell my family I had failed that I hid my grades for over a week. Facing failure and risk of being the first in three generations of Frohnerts to fail electrical engineering, I was on the verge of becoming a statistic that many women studying engineering face: over 32% of women switch out of STEM programs in college.
Despite my initial struggle in college, I was determined to pursue an aerospace career and started setting small goals for myself the following semester. In addition, I joined the Penn State Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter to meet other women like me that were pursuing the same career path or who were in other engineering majors - this helped build my confidence as a woman in STEM and made it easier for me to focus on my class goals. I dramatically improved my grades through the help of SWE and changed my study habits, yet still faced challenges during my early-career journey as a woman in STEM. I was the only woman on my engineering teams during each of my three internships.
Seeing so few women working in engineering and in leadership positions,
I became discouraged and worried that I would become another statistic: only 30% of women who earn bachelors degrees in engineering work in the field 20 years later. Nearly one third of those women who leave the engineering field cite corporate climate as the reason for leaving.
The odds may have been against me, but I graduated Penn State Electrical Engineering with honors. Shortly after graduation I joined the aerospace industry as an electrical engineer, proud to have made it into the aerospace field - my long-awaited dream! I pursued a masters degree in Systems Engineering at Cornell University while working as an engineer in industry and continued developing my engineering career. Now that I have built a successful career, thanks to phenomenal mentors and champions along the way, I have started giving back to those who may be facing similar challenges.
Since joining the industry, I have started a personal Instagram page with 15k+ followers (@ReneeFrohnert) and use additional media platforms to support women and other underrepresented groups in STEM. The focus is to connect people to mentors and opportunities and help eliminate barriers when individuals may be facing imposter syndrome. I have been so fortunate to touch the lives of many students and professionals looking for additional guidance in navigating their own careers.
Seeing such a surge of interest in the topic from the STEM community led me to speak out publicly about diversity and inclusion in engineering. I believe I can help raise awareness of the challenges women face and create action plans to overcome these obstacles so everyone can feel comfortable bringing their full selves into the field. My speaking engagements have included NASA Kennedy Robotics Cup, Cornell Commencement, Purdue Society of Women Engineers Industry Day, Space Tech Expo, Boys and Girls Club STEM Day, and Stanford University Society of Women Engineers. I hope to expand and continue to inspire underrepresented communities to pursue STEM and aerospace.
I am fortunate to have recently been featured on Netflixs new engineering competition show Baking Impossible, being selected as a Project PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Candidate and Cornell University College of Engineering Visiting Lecturer. While these are great achievements, I have more work ahead to further promote women in STEM and progress toward real change.
From the seven-year-old girl whose passion for aerospace began with a Disney movie, to a professional working in the field, Ive been on an incredible journey full of failures and successes. My failures in engineering do not define me - I believe failure is sometimes necessary for success because it helps us grow. I now feel empowered and driven to make positive movements within STEM and aerospace to help increase representation within the field.
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
I knew I wanted to be in aerospace when I was seven years old and watched Toy Story with my dad - I fell in love with the character Buzz Lightyear. My dad, an electrical engineer, further instilled a passion for aerospace and STEM by taking me to science and space museums, showing me how to work on cars and letting me visit his work at an electrical powerplant. I decided to follow in his footsteps and pursue a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, his alma mater. However, my dream to become an engineer in the aerospace industry nearly came to a halt early on.
