Miller receives Williams Trophy

Katelyn Miller, a 2024 graduate of Loudoun Valley High School, recently received a new honor from the Washington Airport Task Force, as they celebrated this year’s theme of “Women in Space and Aviation”.

Miller was selected as the “Shining Star” at the 42nd annual general meeting and trophy presentation on Dec. 9. Miller, alongside Ellen Ochoa, Pamela Melroy, Candace McGraw, and Angela Gittens, received the prestigious Williams Trophy. It recognizes those whose leadership, vision, and dedication in the application of aviation or space has enriched the quality of life on Earth.

Miller is the youngest of the 35 Williams Trophy recipients, and she was selected because of her extensive education and numerous accomplishments within the industry. She expressed gratitude, saying, “I am incredibly honored to receive this award among such inspirational women. Ellen, Pam, Candace, Angela, and all of the other women who came before me, in the fields of aviation and space, opened these doors that I now get to walk through, allowing me to pursue my goals and dreams. I am so grateful for this community, and it is a great privilege to represent the next generation of innovators in these fields.”

Miller has held a variety of leadership roles in many VA Space Grant Consortium programs. At NASA Wallops Flight Facility, she studied polar stratospheric clouds while serving as an Instrumentation Specialist and Program Manager for a simulated sounding rocket mission.

Last summer, she was the Deputy Systems Manager at NASA Langley, coordinating the work of 60 Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars to produce a simulated mission to Mars. Additionally, she researched quantum magnetometry developments for space debris detection and presented her findings at the Quantum World Congress. In her free time, she also participated and trained as a student pilot with the Virginia Pathways Flight Academy.

Currently Miller is enrolled at Harvard College and is studying Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysics. She continues inspiring the newest generation of young girls to enter STEM fields while mentoring and teaching in the Boston community through the Science Club for Girls.

She is a member of the Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe, where she pursues her interests in astronomy and astrophysics at Harvard’s Michael-Loomis Observatory. She is also a member of Harvard’s Undergraduate CubeSat team where she serves as a mechanical engineer, helping to design and develop a satellite to be launched by NASA in 2026.