February 28, 2023
Health break for Rocket Lab scholarship star
Space systems company Rocket Lab USA has awarded a $20,000 scholarship to a student determined to make a difference in health for Māori.
Chief executive Peter Beck says University of Otago medical student Lilli-Peach Simpson-Maru of Rongomaiwahine has ancestral ties to Mahia, where Rocket Lab operates and launches its Electron rockets.
The Rocket Lab Scholarship supports and encourages students from the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne and Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay to pursue science, technology, engineering, or maths at tertiary level.
It has been granted annually since 2017 and includes mentorship from Rocket Lab.
Previous Rocket Lab scholars are currently completing degrees in astronomy.
Ms Simpson-Maru says she wants to make the health industry a safe space for tangata whenua.