Natalie Panek is an aerospace engineer, robotics operator, blogger, adventurer and so much more. Here’s the bio listed on her site thepanekroom.com, which is an awesome resource for women in STEM fields and also full of interesting articles and information. Natalie is a truly inspirational person and she encourages women everywhere to revolutionize and inspire those around them to do the same.

Natalie is a robotic operator and aerospace engineer at MDA Space Missions, previously interning at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center and NASA Ames Research Center. She’s driven a solar-powered car across North America, has a pilot’s license, and skydived with Korea’s first Astronaut. With degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Natalie has co-authored papers on Microgravity Combustion and On-orbit Satellite Servicing. She has also spoken at TEDx and on the panel for the Women in Aerospace International Women’s day.

Natalie is the founder of thePanekRoom.com, a directory of resources for women to become involved in science, engineering, and technology. She is an advocate for encouraging women to dive head-on into challenging careers and take risks, recognizing that we need to foster innovation in order to challenge the foundations of our generation and the next. Natalie is also an avid adventurer, always looking to fill any free time with the outdoors and exploration.

Here’s a video of Natalie’s TEDx talk entitled “Revolutionizing Female Empowerment”. It’s a powerful and inspiring talk and is definitely worth a share. Her message is an important one: we need more women in science and engineering and the best way to do that is to highlight the most inspiring women engineers and scientists in the media.

October 15th is Ada Lovelace Day! Today the world celebrates all of the accomplishments of women in science, art, design, technology, engineering, and math. Each year, Adafruit highlights a number of women who are pioneering their fields and inspiring women of all ages to make their voices heard. Today we will be sharing the stories of women that we think are modern day “Adas”. We will also be referencing women from history that have made impacts in science and math. Please promote and share #ALD13 with your friends and family so we can promote and share with all of the world wide web!

Today everything in the Adafruit store is 10% off, just use the code ALD13 on checkout! Today’s the perfect day to spark the imagination of a future “Ada” with a gift from the Adafruit store!