Sonia Kekeh ‘27 earns Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship
Sonia Kekeh ‘27 has earned a Matthew Isakowitz Commercial Space Scholarship (MCSS). She is one of only nine awardees out of 150 applicants for the 2026 scholarship year. The MCSS is an annual scholarship for college students who demonstrate the passion and attributes to shape the future of the growing commercial space industry through space policies. Through the scholarship, awardees have the opportunity to advance their aerospace careers through policy-focused paid internships at commercial space companies and organizations in the Washington, DC area.
About Sonia Kekeh
Kekeh is is a third-year undergraduate majoring in aerospace engineering and minoring in African and African Diaspora Studies. She is passionate about advancing equitable and sustainable space development and plans to pursue a career in space governance and accessibility. She is particularly interested in the intersection of aerospace engineering and public policy. She aims to leverage her technical training and policy interests to help shape responsible space governance frameworks, strengthen international collaboration, and expand equitable access to space technologies and opportunities. Her long-term goal is to contribute to a future in which the exploration and utilization of outer space benefits all of humanity.
Previously, Kekeh conducted research in MIT’s Media Lab as a member of the Space Enabled Research Group under Prof. Danielle Wood, where she studied African space agencies and their policy frameworks. She plans to deepen her technical expertise throughout the remainder of her undergraduate career and intends to begin her professional journey in industry, working at the forefront of aerospace innovation and policy integration.
Her scholarship includes a summer internship at Northwood Space. She extends her thanks to her family, the Matthew Isakowitz Foundation, and “all of my mentors that supported my ambitions.”
Risha Das, a Technical Associate at the Koch Institute, is also an MCSS awardee from MIT this year.
