Marissa Schwarz, a master’s student in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, and Harshini Sivakumar, AE 2021 have been selected for the prestigious Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship.
This summer, Schwarz will intern at The Aerospace Corporation as a spacecraft and ground concept design intern and Sivakumar will intern at McKinsey & Company supporting their Aerospace and Defense projects.
The Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship supports students who demonstrate leadership, technical excellence, and a strong interest in bridging engineering innovation with policy, strategy, and commercialization. Scholars gain exposure to industry leaders and build a professional network across the commercial space sector.
Schwarz is a first-year graduate student and a member of the Space Systems Optimization Group. She earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University, where she served as simulations lead for the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab and served on the board of Vanderbilt’s Society of Women Engineers.
Schwarz’s academic and professional interests center on the intersection of space systems engineering, policy, and market strategy. Prior to enrolling at Georgia Tech, she worked as a consultant at Deloitte, where she supported space-focused initiatives for government and public sector clients. Her graduate studies build on that foundation, strengthening her technical expertise while exploring how regulatory and strategic decisions shape real-world aerospace systems.
“At Georgia Tech, I wanted to deepen the technical foundation behind the strategy work I had already begun,” said Schwarz. “This scholarship aligns closely with my interest in understanding how engineering constraints, policy decisions, and commercial incentives interact.”
Sivakumar is currently an MBA student at Harvard University where she chose to study business to diversify her expertise and apply it across the space industry. “Business school for me, was an opportunity to expand my horizons, step out of my comfort zone, and learn how to apply my engineering toolkit to a whole new experience,” she said.
“I think this scholarship is really focused on filling an important niche in commercial space, specifically how policy and business are shaping the industry. I want to be able to blend my technical and business skillsets to be a leader in the space industry, and this scholarship is an excellent starting point to be able to do so.”
While at Tech, she served as the president of the School of Aerospace Engineering Student Advisory Council (AESAC), national vice-president of Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics (WoAA), mentor of the Yang Aero Maker Space, member of the Sigma Gamma Tau Honor Society, and an American Institute of Astronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Diversity Scholar. She also serves as a Mentor in Resident with the Daniel Guggenheim School where she helps current AE students with career advice and guidance.