When Loyola Marymount University mechanical engineering student Isabela Jimenez signed up for a semester abroad in Bonn, Germany, she expected new scenery, new classmates and a new host family. She didn’t expect the experience to open the door to a future in aerospace.
As part of LMU’s engineering study abroad program, Jimenez and her classmates toured several German industry sites, including Airbus’ Hamburg facility, one of the largest aerospace manufacturing hubs in the world. Watching aircraft come together on the final assembly line “sparked my first real interest in aerospace,” she said. She also saw the Beluga XL, a rare transport aircraft with only six in existence.
Two years later, that moment became a defining advantage. At the Society of Women Engineers’ national conference in Chicago, she spotted an Airbus booth and introduced herself.
“I told the recruiter that I had toured their Hamburg site and seen the Beluga XL,” she said. “He thought it was so cool that I’d seen it in person and could tell how genuinely excited I was.” That conversation led to an interview and ultimately an internship with Airbus.
Her 12-week internship with Airbus Americas in Wichita, Kansas, built on that momentum. Working on the Mechanical Systems Installations team, Jimenez developed new skills in CATIA, generated bills of materials, and edited aircraft drawings and models. She also completed an Aircraft Structures course taught by industry engineers. “I’m grateful to my team for making my first experience in the aerospace industry such a positive and memorable one,” she shared in a LinkedIn post reflecting on the internship.
As a Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering student, Jimenez knew she wanted to continue her engineering education and also spend time abroad during her undergraduate years. LMU’s Bonn engineering program aligned with her degree requirements, offering major-specific classes, a faculty mentor and a semester living with a local host family.
“Arriving in Germany felt surreal,” she recalled. “It was my first time being halfway across the world from my family, and I didn’t speak the language.” Her host family eased the transition. Her host dad, also a mechanical engineer, shared career stories over dinner; her host mom, who had studied abroad in New York, offered support and home-cooked meals. Even her young host sisters, who didn’t speak English, made her feel included.
The LMU cohort became another anchor. “Being in a foreign country together brought us all so close, and now I consider each one of them, even our professor Dr. Shanahan, part of my ‘family,’” she said.
Now, Jimenez works for the Study Abroad office at LMU, where she assists other students in their study abroad journey. Jimenez credits the semester abroad with expanding her world academically and professionally. “I’ll always be grateful, not only for having the chance to study abroad, but also for the experiences that helped me discover new paths within engineering and sparked my passion for aerospace,” she said.