Engineering and management don’t compete — they complete each other. One builds the technology, the other makes sure it flies.
From Propulsion to Precision: How Aerospace Led Me to the Power of Engineering Management
- May 6, 2025
- By Sagarika Chikhale
Since childhood, I’ve looked at the night sky not just with curiosity, but with yearning. The stars weren’t distant lights; they were destinations. I grew up captivated by the cosmic beauty of the universe, inspired deeply by Kalpana Chawla and her legacy. Her journey from Karnal to space gave shape to a dream I held close to my heart: to become an astronaut and travel to the Moon, Mars, or even asteroid belts, anywhere that lay beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
That dream became my compass, guiding my academic choices and ultimately landing me in Italy to study aerospace engineering. It felt like a natural progression, chasing the stars through propulsion equations and orbital mechanics. I immersed myself in the complex science of flight beyond Earth, driven by the belief that I was preparing myself, bit by bit, for space.
Among all the subjects, propulsion systems fascinated me the most. To me, they were more than just machines, they were time-savers, and in many ways, the vessels of possibility. After all, time is perhaps the most precious currency we have, and propulsion is what lets us trade that time for distance. The other area that gripped me was mission planning. The amount of coordination, precision, and strategy it takes to execute a space mission is enormous. I loved how every minute detail mattered. Every plan had a purpose, and every contingency had a backup plan. There was so much to learn, and even more to explore.
But while studying and engaging with professionals during my first master’s degree, I began to see the aerospace sector through a different lens. It wasn’t just rockets and research, it was deeply intertwined with national interests, politics, and fragmented competition. I started noticing how progress in the field often hinged less on pure technical innovation and more on strategic alignment, governance, and managerial efficiency. Even the most groundbreaking propulsion systems or mission designs wouldn’t take off without solid strategic execution behind them.
That realization was a turning point.
What began as curiosity slowly became conviction. I wanted to understand the broader machinery behind complex engineering sectors like aerospace. How do industries function? How are technologies commercialized? How are decisions made, and risks managed at scale? I wasn’t stepping away from aerospace, I was expanding my lens. I began to see engineering management not as a departure from my path, but as an essential extension of it.
So I chose to pursue a second master’s in engineering management.
It was a deliberate, strategic decision, one rooted in my desire to become someone who not only understands how spacecraft fly but also how organizations, policies, resources, and people work behind the scenes to make that flight happen. Now, I see myself equipped with both technical fluency and management insight. I’m not just chasing stars anymore; I’m learning how to build the systems that make those journeys possible.
Through this transition, I’ve come to appreciate that technical brilliance alone doesn’t solve the world’s biggest problems. It’s the combination of technical depth, strategic foresight, and thoughtful execution that creates real impact. I don’t know if this is technically correct, but it feels true to me: strong management creates the space for technical innovation to grow — efficiently, purposefully, and sustainably.
These experiences have shaped me, challenged me, and given me clarity. They reflect not just a shift in academic focus, but a deeper evolution in how I see the world and my role in it. I’m still that girl who dreamed of going to the Moon — but now, I’m also thinking about the systems, structures, and strategies that can take not just me, but entire industries, closer to the stars.
