ABOUT US

WIALD (pronounced “wild”) is a student-run organization at the University of Texas at Austin. WIALD was created in 2009, when the percentage of women applying for the undergraduate Aerospace Engineering program at The University of Texas at Austin was at a historic low. In an effort to alleviate this problem, a group of women in engineering came together with the help of faculty members and the Women in Engineering Program (WEP) and formed Women in Aerospace for Leadership Development (WIALD).

The main objective of the group is to facilitate the development of leadership skills for women in all undergraduate engineering majors while attracting and retaining more women in engineering by making group activities fun, exciting, and ultimately valuable in achieving long-range career goals. Each year we focus on a different hands-on project. In the past, we have launched a payload into space, sent a balloon into the upper atmosphere, flown on NASA’s “Vomit Comet,” and modified a drone to carry a glider which autonomously navigates to pre-determined waypoints. Check out our Projects pages for more information.