• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2026

• California State University Long Beach, Aerospace Engineering, ‘26

• Mentor: TBD

• Brookie Mentor: TBD

Brianna Clark is a senior at California State University Long Beach, majoring in aerospace engineering with a minor in computer science in the honors college. As a first-generation Latina engineer, she is passionate about sustainable propulsion development and creating accessible pathways for underrepresented students in aerospace. Her consistent academic excellence has earned her a spot on the Dean's Honor Roll throughout her undergraduate career, leading to her selection for the Dean's Leadership Academy. She has served as a residential advisor and honors peer mentor to incoming STEM students.

Brianna's advocacy for first-generation students has been recognized through her involvement with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as an AIAA Rising Star, industry representative, and course proctor for the Design of Space Launch Vehicles short course. She is also a Reinvented Magazine Space Gala Scholar and Harvard LEAD recipient. She has participated in NASA L'SPACE academies, including the Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience (NPWEE) and Mission Concept Academy (MCA), which led to her role as a Leadership Experience and Accelerator Program (LEAP) mentor for incoming students. She recently joined the Agnostic Life Finding Association (ALFA) as a science communication intern.

Her technical experience spans multiple student rocketry teams at CSULB, including serving as payload mechanical lead for Long Beach Rocketry's NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) team, fluids test engineer for Beach Launch Team, and propulsion research engineer for the Experimental Sounding Rocketry Association (ESRA), competing in the Spaceport America Cup. Professionally, she began as a Zed Factor Fellow, interning at Starfish Space as a robotics hardware engineer. She has since interned at Relativity Space as a vehicle fluids engineer and Vast Space as a propulsion engineer. This summer, she is excited to be joining Blue Origin as a Fluid Systems & Propulsion Engineering Intern in Kent, Washington.

Brianna actively connects with the global space community through the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), where she has participated in the Achieved Academy and served as a delegate at the Space Generation Fusion Forum and International Astronautical Congress. She frequently speaks at Hispanic Heritage Foundation events in Southern California and is co-chapter lead for Los Angeles Space Happy Hour. Long term, she aspires to work on next-generation propulsion systems that will enable sustainable deep space exploration while continuing to mentor and advocate for underrepresented students entering the aerospace industry.

In her free time, Brianna loves to read and update her Goodreads, watch sci-fi movies with her cat, go on long hikes, channel her inner Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen, and explore new sweet treat shops.