Play among the stars
How big are you dreaming? Are you dabbling round the edges or are you firing rockets into space? Are you creating bridges to those dreams; the concrete little steps that will get you there, whilst leaving wide open spaces for endless possibilities that you can’t even imagine right now? When we give ourselves the room to play among the stars, we reach for the moon, but we also leave the way ahead for the possibility of Mars.
Infinite Possibilities
Melony Mahaarachchi made it as a rocket scientist, designing the wiring system for the Rover that landed on Mars.
This week’s guest is Melony Mahaarachchi, who co-founded Cambridge Global Ventures INC after a decade in the US Aerospace Industry; from Elon Musk’s Spacex programme to Boeing to Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab where she designed the wiring system for the spaceship Rover that landed on Mars in 2021
Growing up in Sri Lanka Melony had two brothers so her girl friends weren't allowed to come round to play. Instead Melony played with her brothers' friends. This was good training when she entered the male dominated world of Mechanical Engineering at UCLA. It was an aha moment that made her change to robotics engineering, going from the U.S. Aerospace industry as an industry tech leader managing projects for Elon Musk’s Spaces, to Boeing Commercial & NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasedena. Finally she landed the role of Lead Mechanical Engineer for Mars Perseverance Rover which landed on Mars in 2021.
After ten years in the industry she decided to found her nonprofit organization in 2015, iSTEM Without Borders, focusing on underprivileged students and women to help them pursue and thrive in STEM careers. She also mentored startups in the UK Cambridge cluster and SLAASCOM Women Technopreneur forum in Sri Lanka.
Life as an entrepreneur can be a hair-raising ride, so the lessons from a rocket scientist turned businesswoman are all too relevant for us all!
Thank you, Melony for your contribution to the tech community and for being a role model for young women around the world and for showing us that anything is possible when you set your vision and take consistent action towards it.
You can find out more about Melony’s work on www.cambridgeglobal.com and follow her on Linkedin @MelonyMaharaachchi
How do you define Courage?
“Have the courage to express yourself.”
Melony Mahaarachchi.
Lou is an artist and author of three books: Brave New Girl- How to Be Fearless, FEAR LESS, and her latest: DARE TO SHARE- helping you to guest on podcasts to tell your story, give value and gain visibility. She is the founder of Silk Studios - The Podcast Guest Agency.