ESA astronaut and TUM Alumna Samantha Cristoforetti (B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, 2001) returned to campus to give a talk to students, alumni, and guests as part of TUM Sustainability Day and the TUM Speakers Series (Photo: Fabian Vogl/TUM).
Since graduating from TUM, Samantha Cristoforetti (Diploma Aerospace Engineering 2001) has had many experiences: The TUM Alumna served as a fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force, was recruited into the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut corps, flew to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in 2014 as a flight engineer, and in 2022 as commander. She was the first Italian woman in space, the first European woman to perform a spacewalk, and the first European woman to take command of the ISS.
During her visit, Samantha Cristoforetti was also honored by TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann for her 25th anniversary since graduating from TUM. He presented her with the Silver Diploma, marking 25 years since her graduation from TUM—in the very building where her academic career began: the Mechanical Engineering Building on the TUM Garching Campus.
The TUM Alumna has demonstrated her close and enduring connection to TUM not only in the lecture hall, but also time and again before that—for example, in her congratulatory video for TUM’s 150th anniversary, and even in space.
Read Samantha Cristoforetti’s alumni story and the article about her preparations for her second ISS mission.
