Ohio Rose Aoife Zuercher has told RTÉ Entertainment that she hopes her work with NASA will inspire other Irish women to pursue careers in science.
The chemistry and mathematics graduate has been working at NASA on next-generation batteries for electric aircraft for a year and a half as part of an internship. She is due to begin a PhD in Materials Engineering at the University of Maryland in September.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment at the Rose of Tralee launch at Airfield Estate in Dublin's Dundrum, the 22-year-old described the last 18 months of her life at NASA as "incredible".
"Just being around that many passionate, intelligent people [who] make you want do more for your life," she said. "It makes you more ambitious about yourself."
"I think it's so important to get women into science," she continued.
"You're told from a young age what you're good at and what you're bad at - and that's not how it's supposed to be. You can work on skills that you're passionate about and grow those skills, even if you might not be gifted in them when you're young.
"I think that's something that women are pigeonholed into. They're told maybe they're not very good in sciences or math or they're better in something else and they stick away from it - when you can't tell that when you're 10 years old in school. So it starts from that young age - education changing a little bit, boosting up women to go into those fields that are primarily men.
"I know from working at NASA, one of the teams that I was on, it was me and 12 men - and I was the youngest as well! It definitely was a bit intimidating at first, and especially being 'newer' and the only woman, but I had some amazing mentors that really amplified my voice.
"So I would work on a small part of a project and they would ask my mentor about it and my mentor was actually like, 'Well, I'll let Aoife talk about this because she was the one who did it'.
"And so it was great to have that support of these strong, really brilliant people that are working there, that are telling you, 'Yes, you know what you're talking about. You know this better than anybody else knows your work'. So just to be confident in yourself."
Aoife Zuercher's Irish roots are in Dublin and Derry through her parents Deirdre and John.
"My mom is from Dublin. She was born and raised in Blackrock, and then when she was 22 she moved over to the States and met my dad and stayed there! And my dad's mother is from Derry."
Her time as the Ohio Rose is her second visit to Ireland this summer.
"I was here in June!" she laughed. "That was before I realised I was selected. I got selected two days before I had my trip planned! So I got to come twice this summer. I've been back, like, seven times? All my family's still here. They're so excited for me!
"I'm so excited. It's already been so much fun. I didn't know what to expect when I came in, but it's been incredible.
"It's definitely not something I've done before - or similar even to anything I've done before. It's definitely just pushing myself out of my comfort zone, representing my state, and coming over to a country that I love."
The show will be broadcast live tonight and Tuesday 20 August from 8pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
