Ashley Padres is a senior at Cornell University pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering. Her interests lie in aerospace structures, systems design, and mission engineering, which she explores through her work as a Structures and Payloads Engineer and Airframe Subteam Lead for Cornell University Unmanned Air Systems. Ashley has also served as Deputy Principal Investigator for Cornell’s SmallSat Mission Design School, leading a team that developed a mission concept for exoplanet imaging and presented their work at the 2024 SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation Conference in Japan.

Her technical experience includes internships at SpaceX and Relativity Space, where she focused on structures manufacturing and vehicle design, as well as prior leadership roles in The American Rocketry Challenge, where her team earned national finalist recognition. Through Ursa Majors, Ashley aims to inspire the next generation of engineers to think boldly, build creatively, and pursue innovation beyond the classroom.