Women of Distinction Awards

Jacqueline O'Connor

Jackie O'Connor is a graduate student in the Aerospace Engineering program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006.

When Jackie first arrived at Tech, she was asked about her long-term plans, to which she responded with nothing less than “To save the world!” Her research interests in developing future energy systems that minimized pollution flow directly from this goal. Though this goal represents her academic and profession aspirations, it embodies the spirit and determination with which she has lived her life before and during her time at Georgia Tech.

During her time at MIT, Jacqueline continued her dedication to the community through outreach programs with the Society of Women Engineers, an editorial position at the student newspaper (“The Tech”), and musical performances, all the while maintaining academic excellence. She demonstrated both personal academic achievement, as recognized by the Wings Club Award for Academic Excellence in the Field of Aeronautics she received in 2005, and team leadership, as recognized by the Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Systems Engineering Teamwork that was presented to her by MIT in 2006. During her junior and senior years at college, Jacqueline did undergraduate research on two projects directed toward her goal of helping the planet. Her first research project, System for Assessing Aviation's Global Emissions (SAGE), focused on modeling aircraft emissions at airports. The results of this model were actually implemented at several airports to reduce pollution emissions from their aircraft. Her second research project involved the study of low pollutant emissions flames. Both projects had significant impact in their fields and provided the basis for excelling at academic research in the graduate setting.

Now at Georgia Tech, Jacqueline continues to demonstrate academic excellence and leadership. Already she has received a number of awards and fellowships - a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, and an Amelio Fellowship and Presidential Fellowship from Georgia Tech. Despite her busy schedule, Jacqueline still finds time to give violin concerts and leads a string quartet that plays at many different venues at Georgia Tech. In this capacity, she serves as a mentor to several younger student-musicians. She is also working on a series of studio recordings of a fellow graduate student's chamber music compositions.