Ivan Figueroa is a master’s student at USC studying Astronautical Engineering. He is a native of LA who holds an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from California State University Long Beach. His professional experience is in Computational Fluid Dynamics from his time as an intern at NASA Langley, NASA Marshall, and in working as an engineer at the automotive startup Faraday Future. He has had a lifelong fascination with space exploration, history, and science in general. Because of this, Ivan is an advocate for low income, first generation STEM students and volunteers his time as president of the MAES organization’s LA Professional Chapter. This organization is focused on conducting outreach, promoting STEM education and providing professional development to aspiring engineers and scientists from underrepresented backgrounds. In addition to that, Ivan’s favorite pastimes are amateur astronomy and astrophotography.