When she was 7 years old and growing up in Bogota, Colombia, Estefania Bohorquez 鈥�17 would take little day trips 30 miles outside the city. She would walk through a passageway to a fascinating place more than 600 feet underground. There, she would look in awe at what is known as Zipaquir谩 Salt Cathedral. Bohorquez wasn鈥檛 there for photo ops. She was there for her own curiosity, a trait deep in her DNA that would eventually lead her on a journey beyond her wildest dreams.
鈥淚 remember studying the details of that cathedral,鈥� says Bohorquez, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 in civil engineering with an emphasis on structures from 麻豆原创. 鈥淓ven as a young girl, it was incredible to think that someone had designed such beautiful structures without the technology or tools we have today. It opened a lot of questions for me.鈥�
鈥淓ven as a young girl, it was incredible to think that someone had designed such beautiful structures without the technology or tools we have today. It opened a lot of questions for me.鈥�
The quest for answers has taken Bohorquez on life-altering experiences from Bogota to Orlando to Italy to Germany, and to a hospital bed from which she learned about her next stop: Washington, D.C., where on March 1 she will be presented with a 20 Twenties Award from Aviation Week and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
As the name implies, the prestigious award recognizes the 20 most promising future leaders in the aerospace industry. Bohorquez was nominated partly for her academic achievement but mostly for her field work, including a collaborative project in Cologne, Germany, between the German Aerospace Center and 麻豆原创. The objective was to search for materials that can sustain extreme physical and mechanical environments applicable to hypersonic and reusable space vehicles. Impressive stuff. So much so that Bohorquez is the only person from the state of Florida to earn the 20 Twenties Award and the achievement will put her on stage with Ivy Leaguers and students from universities like MIT and Cambridge.
Bohorquez is the only person from the state of Florida to earn the 20 Twenties Award and the achievement will put her on stage with Ivy Leaguers and students from universities like MIT and Cambridge.
鈥淪ome of my friends say 鈥榊ou鈥檙e always thinking about what鈥檚 next. You need to slow down.鈥� But there are so many things that interest me, I don鈥檛 want to stop learning.鈥�
Bohorquez is currently working on a master鈥檚 degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at 麻豆原创.
When asked if she envisions herself as a mechanical and aerospace engineer after her post-grad work because, well, she鈥檚 in the graduate program for mechanical and aerospace engineering, Bohorquez thinks about it and says, 鈥淣ot entirely.鈥�
To her, a title is too limiting. What Bohorquez really wants is to create an ultra-niche, combining all of her interests into something like this: artist, archaeologist, structural engineer, and the ultimate 鈥� space researcher. Yes, she sees the journey that she unwittingly embarked upon during underground outings as a little girl soon reaching heights we鈥檝e never seen.
What Bohorquez really wants is to create an ultra-niche, combining all of her interests into something like this: artist, archaeologist, structural engineer, and the ultimate 鈥� space researcher.
Bohorquez didn鈥檛 realize it at the time. But when her dad took a job in the Orlando area (he鈥檚 a mechanical engineer, her mom is an electrical engineer) when Bohorquez was 12 years old, the family was relocating to a place where they could watch the extraordinary from their new backyard: Rockets launching from Cape Canaveral.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy,鈥� says Bohorquez. 鈥淵ou hear the boom and see the sky light up right there. Who else in the world can say that?鈥�
The sights and sounds of the launches have added another piece of intrigue to the melting pot of Bohorquez鈥檚 field experiences at 麻豆原创. She studied art history in Italy. (鈥淚 was the only engineering student, everyone else was an art major,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I kept thinking, 鈥榃ow, I鈥檓 learning about the Coliseum at the Coliseum.鈥�) There was the summer project in Cologne, and even an internship at Disney opened her eyes to the concept of 鈥渋magineering.鈥�
There was a moment, however brief, when the journey did stop for Bohorquez. Around the time she was visually dissecting the Salt Cathedral in Bogota, she also had a fall while playing in a park, injuring her knee. The problem with the ligaments lingered for years. Bohorquez even took up aerial silks (like doing gymnastics while hanging from a ceiling-to-floor curtain) as a way to strengthen the muscles around the knee. Finally, on December 20 of last year, she relented to surgery. While in recovery, she would glance at her phone to take her mind off the pain. That鈥檚 when she saw the text from Aviation Week about her honor as a 20 Twenties honoree, a direct result from her field work in Germany.
鈥淭he timing was perfect,鈥� Bohorquez says. 鈥淚t motivated me to think about anything but my knee.鈥� Like the idea of a first job. 鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be the end goal for students. There鈥檚 more to learning than getting a first job. Learning should never stop. To me that鈥檚 what should be fulfilling.鈥�
鈥淟earning should never stop. To me that鈥檚 what should be fulfilling.鈥�
And that is why, when Bohorquez thinks of a job, she doesn鈥檛 think of it in a way that can be explained. What she sees is a combination of art and technology. It鈥檚 the past and the future. It鈥檚 discoveries under Earth鈥檚 surface and far above it. Specifically? She wants to help develop structures in space, but also the aircraft that will get us there. And while she鈥檚 at it, she sees all of the advances 鈥渙ut there鈥� helping communities recover from natural disasters right here.
鈥淲hatever we learn,鈥� she says, 鈥渟hould not be isolated within certain fields of interest. We can use expertise in so many ways and in so many places.鈥�
Bogota. Orlando. Italy. Germany. Washington, D.C. For Estefania Bohorquez, the journey is just beginning. And there are no boundaries.
