• Brooke Owens Fellow, Class of 2022

• University of Colorado Boulder, Aerospace Engineering, ‘25

• Host Institution: Draper Laboratory

• Executive Mentor: AJ Piplica

• Brookie Mentor: Giselle Koo

Liza is a sophomore at the University of Colorado Boulder, majoring in Aerospace Engineering. The discipline is a relatively new love of Liza’s, not realized until after graduating from high school. She took her time exploring different studies prior to trying out engineering, and she hasn’t looked back since. Liza earned an Associate of Science degree in Pre-Engineering at Pima Community College before transferring to CU Boulder. She decided to combine her engineering studies with her passion for space exploration and pursue her Bachelor’s degree.

In 2021, Liza participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program sponsored by the National Science Foundation and spent the summer doing research in hypersonics at the University of Arizona. That experience gave her a glimpse at the world of research in aerospace and allowed active exploration of her interests.

Liza is a member of her university’s oSTEM chapter and is looking forward to doing outreach in STEM education in the future. You can find Liza exploring somewhere in nature and enjoying the outdoors in her free time. She also enjoys creating art. Fun fact: Liza had a postcard copy of one of her art pieces fly in space on the first all-civilian crew mission, Inspiration4!

As a Brooke Owens Fellow, Liza will be spending the summer at Draper Laboratory. She looks forward to being inspired by her work.