The High Flying Success of Rocket Scientist, Ayanna Samuels

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#Jamaica, March 9, 2023 – “I’m not a rocket scientist!” The age-old quip highlights the extreme difficulty it takes to become an Aerospace Engineer, but it certainly does not apply to Ayanna Samuels, Gender Advocate and a literal Rocket Scientist.

With these credentials, Ayanna perfectly embodies the 2023 Women’s Day theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”

The first black woman since 1972 to earn an Aerospace Engineering Degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Samuels was born in Kingston, Jamaica and says she always knew she wanted to be an astronaut.

“The desire pulsed non-stop through my veins for as long as I can remember– my career ambitions naturally led to majoring in Aerospace Engineering.  During my undergrad tenure, I became very instilled with a desire to use Aerospace Engineering for social good.  How is it that my work within Aerospace would make the world a better place? Such questions encapsulated me,” she explained to MIT in an interview.

However, Ayanna’s work has been more Planet Earth focused as she champions tech for development.   After graduating in 2005 with three degrees, (a bachelors and a double masters in technology policy and aerospace engineering) Samuels began a consultancy agency which focused on exploring how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s), Gender and STEM policy intersect and how to use ICTs and Technology Policy to further access to basic human rights for all, eradicate poverty and empower people.

She is a celebrated professional in the ICT for Development Sphere and has worked at numerous international organizations including the World Bank, the International Development Bank and the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organisations (CANTO).

Samuels authored a chapter in the 2016 book “The Internet of Women: Accelerating Culture Change (Innovation and Change in Education)” alongside some of the most successful women in the tech space and continues her work today.