• Patti Grace Smith Fellow, Class of 2025

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aerospace Engineering, ‘27

• Host Institution: SpaceX

Daniel is a first-generation Colombian American in his second year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology majoring in aerospace engineering with a minor in space policy. When he was 5, he was gifted a Dr. Seuss book about space and since then, he has been hopelessly captivated by the idea of space exploration. Daniel is motivated by a belief that humanity's destiny is space exploration and believes that the only way we can accomplish that is by being innovative and ambitious. Daniel loves to learn and believes that what's gotten him farthest in life has been his curiosity for everything and the unwavering support from my parents.

He is currently a test engineer and fluid systems engineer on the liquid propulsion subteam of the MIT Rocket Team, treasurer of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) chapter, student researcher at the MIT Space Propulsion Lab, NASA Challenges participant, and executive board member of The Standard, a professional and personal development organization for men of color. In the short term, Daniel wants to enable MIT’s rocket team to develop a propulsively landed rocket and create a mentorship and tutoring program with local high school with The Standard members. Long-term, he wants to revolutionize the aerospace industry by starting his own rocket/satellite company and create a non-profit mentorship organization dedicated to supporting high schoolers who want to go into aerospace engineering. He will be interning at SpaceX this summer on the Raptor Components team in Hawthorne, CA.

His professional interests include propulsion, test engineering, space telecommunications, and politics. He loves to play tennis, volunteer, play the piano, read fantasy novels, dance salsa and bachata, and watch basketball.