Video summary
Anna-Maria Rivas McGowan's journey into aerospace engineering began with a surprising lack of self-doubt regarding her identity as a woman of color, a perspective that contrasted sharply with the discouraging voices she encountered early on. Although she possessed a genuine passion for engineering and did not fit the stereotypical profile of someone who built Legos or solved equations for fun, she faced significant skepticism from counselors and others who questioned whether the field was right for her. Despite these external doubts about her ability to handle the rigorous curriculum at Purdue University and complete her degree, her parents provided unwavering encouragement that pushed her to persist through her freshman year, which served as a difficult wake-up call where she had to learn to wipe away tears and return to her studies with grit.
Her career at NASA Langley became a testament to the power of embracing fear and stepping into new experiences, starting with the Co-op program and evolving into roles that challenged her at every turn. McGowan describes a professional path defined by continuous growth, moving from testing massive wind tunnel models to teaching courses in Europe before she even held a master's degree, and eventually becoming a project manager for huge initiatives and a technical agent for DARPA. She emphasizes that if one is not occasionally doing something that scares them, they are not striving hard enough, a philosophy that guided her through high-risk flight test programs and international collaborations. Even mid-career, after managing tens of millions of dollars in programs, she made the bold decision to return to school for a doctorate, a move that fundamentally changed her trajectory and opened doors she never knew existed.
In her final decade at NASA, McGowan served as a senior technical executive where she successfully integrated non-engineering fields into complex systems design to improve aerospace products, before retiring early to launch her own consulting firm, Kings Crew Design. She reflects on how these career pivots were essential to her success, noting that without returning to school later in life, she would not have been able to achieve the things she did in her last fifteen years. Her core message to students and aspiring engineers is to feel fear but act anyway, viewing uncomfortable situations not as failures but as opportunities to learn and grow. Ultimately, her story illustrates that moments of hesitation and fear often coincide with amazing breakthroughs, encouraging others to remain open to new experiences regardless of whether they initially seem like a good idea.
Read the full video transcript
It never occurred to me or my parents
that
being female,
>> [music]
>> being a woman of color had anything to
do with whether or not I could do this.
Never even came up as a conversation.
When I said I wanted to be an aerospace
engineer, they said, "Great, let's go.
What do we have to do to get you there?"
>> [music]
>> Are there girls and people who are
considering going into the field of
engineering that say, "Well, I'm not
like everybody else. I don't do
equations for fun on the weekends.
[music]
I'm not building Legos and I'm not I'm
not taking things apart." I didn't
either.
I really didn't. [music] I still love
engineering. I think it's fascinating.
I've been doing this now for three and a
half decades. It still inspires me every
[music] day.
I had some people, counselors had said,
"You know, we weren't sure this is the
right field for you. This is [music]
going to be tough. Are you sure you want
to do this? Maybe think of something
different that's easier." And even when
I said I wanted to go to Purdue, you
know, they were like, "That's a really
hard school. You think you're going to
get in?" And even if [music] you did get
in, you think you're going to finish?"
And so, I did have that and that was it
was discouraging to [music] be honest
with you. But my parents were there and
they were always so encouraging and they
just said, "Keep pressing."
>> [music]
>> I get here, oh my goodness, have mercy.
Freshman year was a wake-up call.
[music] I was scared to death. I
actually was not sure I could [music]
make it.
Honestly, there were times I just cried.
So, I learned to, you know, wipe the
tears off,
>> [snorts]
[clears throat]
>> get back in [music] the game and I think
that
builds some grit in you, right? At some
point, you're like,
"Yeah, you know, I'm not sure I'm going
to be able to do this, but I'm going to
try [music] it anyway and I'm going to
work hard at it and give it everything
I've got. And even if it doesn't work
out, I can say [music] I gave it
everything I had."
I found out about the Co-op program
walking through the Stewart Center. I
chose NASA [music] Langley because it
was 3 hours from where I grew up, so it
was a lot closer. My first term, like
many students, I was [music] just
scared.
Just straight-up like, "Wow, I'm at NASA
and I'm a sophomore. Wow." I was just
hoping not to screw something up.
I just wanted to learn and [laughter]
experience this. I really didn't know
what the next steps would be. Honestly,
you know, I I I was considering
everything [music]
at that moment and I was just open to
learning.
>> [music]
>> My career at NASA opened up a ton of
doors and gave me many different
experiences that were really really fun
[music] and each one had me learn new
things and grow. You know, if you're not
doing something that scares you
occasionally, [music]
you are not striving hard enough. I kept
searching and asking questions and then
being open to experiences [music] that
were new. Very often, a new experience
can be a little scary, for sure. And so,
just having an open heart and mind to
trying something new [music] and not
being afraid of failure. My first 8
years was testing a very large wind
tunnel, super fun, huge wind tunnel
models, multi-million dollar models.
Then I got [music] a call from CENAIDO
officials in Portugal and I had the
opportunity to go to Europe and teach
short [music] courses. I had never
taught a short course at that point. I
didn't have my master's was not [music]
complete at that point. So, I really
that was new to me. And then, soon after
that, I applied for an interview to
become a project manager
>> [music]
>> and I was really scared. Can I do this?
And then I got the job and I was like,
"Woah." Right? This was a huge project.
Then I had a chance to become a DARPA
technical agent [music]
and I worked with as a DARPA agent for a
few years doing [music] doing some very
high-risk flight test programs with
them. And so, these just continually
opened doors. And then I had an
opportunity to go to the National
[music] Science Foundation for a year.
And then, even mid-career, after being
in NSF for a year, I went back to
[music] school.
It had been 10 years since my NASA years
was over and I felt called [music] to go
back to school. This was a hard decision
for sure. At the time I was managing
large programs, [music] tens of millions
of dollar programs, to go back to school
again to get my doctorate.
It's like a moment. By then I was a mom
and a wonderful child. [music] Could I
do this? And after lots of
of time [music] to think about it, I
decided to go for it.
And that was amazing and it was game
changing. And really set [music] me on
another new career path that opened up
doors I didn't even know were available.
The last big position I had at NASA,
[music] which is the one that I stayed
at for the last 10 years of my career,
and that was serving as NASA's senior
[music] technical executive for complex
systems design,
where I brought in fields that were
outside [music] of engineering
to engineering and integrated those to
really make aerospace projects [music]
and products better.
After being at NASA for 33 plus years,
[music]
I felt it was time to change. And so
just last year I decided to retire early
from my work at NASA and [music] I
started my own consulting company. And I
called Kings Crew Design. To me, this is
trying another opportunity as well,
[music] opening new doors, working with
new clients, and having opportunities to
try some new things and learn and grow
and to [music] have impact.
One of the things I've learned is
>> [music]
>> the career pivots and changes
have been wonderful.
And had I [music] not gone back to
school, for example, mid-career, I would
never have been able to do the things
>> [music]
>> I did in the last 15 years of my career
at all. And I came to recognize those
moments of being scared
were pretty coincident with [music]
amazing things happening ultimately.
I learned to feel the fear and do it
anyway.
I learned to get comfortable being
uncomfortable. I would encourage [music]
students to try new things while you're
in school and when you're out of school
and to look at sometimes as things are
not going to pan out and don't look at
the things that don't pan out as well
that was a bad idea.
Hmm.
Maybe it was just [music] an opportunity
to learn.
>> [music]