Sarah Callinan, St Ursula’s Alumni
For Sarah, the sky isn’t the limit; it’s just the beginning
It’s not often you find someone who can attest to attending International Space Camp while in Year 12, but St Ursula’s College 2015 graduate, Sarah Callinan, certainly can.
Sarah is currently studying at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and said her 2015 experience as the Australian female representative was a literal and figurative blast.
“I’d always had an interest in Science…in 2014, I travelled to the United States of America (USA) as part of St Ursula’s Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) tour group,” said Sarah.
“If touring around New York City with my best friends isn’t a standout memory, I don’t know what is!”
“We visited, among other places, the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and, after participating in ‘astronaut training’, seeing a real space shuttle and meeting an astronaut, I became fascinated with space exploration, which led me to apply for a scholarship to attend Space Camp in the USA…which I won!”
“My interests in STEM were definitely fostered by my teachers at St Ursula’s College. The 2014 STEM trip to the USA really inspired me to study Engineering and opened my eyes to the Aerospace industry.”
Sarah was awarded a Tuckwell Scholarship, worth over $100 000, to study at ANU, and is currently in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Business Administration (a six year) program
“I applied and interviewed for the scholarship with the support of my teachers at St Ursula’s, which eventually led me to be selected for the 2016 cohort; without it, I would not have been able to move to Canberra to study at my dream university, ANU.”
While Sarah has a keen interest in the Aerospace sector, her passion for humanitarian engineering – using technology and engineering to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged communities – led to an adventure in Cambodia in 2017.
“I travelled to Cambodia on a humanitarian engineering study program, and I was truly inspired to use my engineering skills to make a positive impact in my local and international community.”
Sarah was named as the 2019 President of the Australian Capital Territory Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a non-profit organisation that provides education and engineering projects for communities in Australia and overseas.
“Our chapter delivers free engineering workshops to schools around the ACT, runs educational events within the community, and more.”
Next on the agenda for Sarah is a trip to Arizona, USA, for an Engineering Entrepreneurship study program, before she commences a full-time internship at Cisco next semester.
