(The registration is open for all, including in-person public attendance and non-AIAA-LA University Student Branch students, at your earliest conveniences. Please commit for showing up and attend if your registered, especially for in-person attendance, for better logistics arrangement. If any special situation or group rate (for optional lunch. The admission is free, but online registration is needed for seats and logistics.) is needed, please contact us at contact@aiaa-lalv.org. Thank you!)

AIAA LA 2/21 Section mini-Conference 2025

(In-person mainly for better interactive and networking experiences, with online attendance.)

Friday, February 21, 2025, 10:30 AM PST (GMT -0800)

AIAA University / Student Branches are important and integral parts of AIAA & the local Professional Sections. They are vibrant with aerospace activities and their pursuit of the aerospace careers, knowledge, and skills.

Please join us to learn more about the exciting activities and projects with the AIAA Los Angeles Section University / Student Branches, and join other professionals to help, inspire, guide them, network together, and enjoy!

• Show support for our Section University Student Branches, whose members are the future backbone / rising stars of aerospace and AIAA.
• Learn more about the Los Angeles (LA) Section University Student Branches and meet the students.
• Q&A session with a panel of professionals on anything relevant to college students (school-life balance, work-life balance, transition to professional life, networking, finding a job, extracurriculars, summer experiences, etc.).
• Learn more about the LA Section University Education activities.
• Learn more about the local aerospace industries and the possible involvement with the AIAA students.
• Network with some of our section University Branch students, their professors, AIAA members, aerospace professionals, business leaders, educators, students, and enthusiasts.
• (Please contact us (see contacts below) if you/your organization would like to have an exhibition table, or present proper related paper/posters in this mini-Conference)

AIAA California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Branch

AIAA University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Branch

AIAA University of Southern California (USC) Branch or USC ADT

AIAA University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Branch

Disclaimer: The views of the external speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles Section.

(Tentative Agenda (All Time PST (GMT -0800)(U.S. and Canada))

10:15am - Check-in, Set-Up, and Network

10:30am - AIAA LA Welcome & Introduction (Luis Cuevas/Ian Clavio)

10:35am - Impulse Space Briefing

11:20am - AIAA HQ with Clay Mowry & Lindsay Mitchell

12:20pm - Lunch Break / Networking / Exhibits

01:20pm - AIAA CSULB Student Branch

01:35pm - AIAA UCLA Student Branch

01:50pm - AIAA USC Student Branch or USC ADT

02:05pm - AIAA UNLV Student Branch

02:20pm - StratoSOL: 2024 1st Place AIAA Undergraduate Individual Aircraft Design by David Moeller Sztajnbok / Dr. Spedding

02:40pm - Aerospace Corporation, Dr. Nahum Melamed

03:00pm - AIAA Professional Career Panel

List of panelists: AIAA, Lindsay Mitchell

Aerospace Corporation, Dr. Nahum Melamed

USC AME, Dr. Geoffrey Spedding

AIAA LA & JetZero, Luis Cuevas

AIAA LA & Northrop Grumman, Ian Clavio

(More TBA)

03:50pm - Summary/Conclusion (Luis Cuevas/Ian Clavio)

04:00pm - Adjourn and Network

05:30pm - (Meeting Room closes.)

06:00pm - (Lawndale Library closes.)

Dr. Gary Li is the Director of Government Business Development at Impulse Space and is responsible for growing Impulse’s in-space transportation business in civil and defense markets. He previously worked at The Aerospace Corporation as a technical advisor to the United States Space Force on science & technology and mission area integration for the missile warning mission area. He has previously researched advanced propulsion systems at NASA JPL and Edwards AFRL. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2020 working on electric propulsion and nuclear fusion research, and his B.A. in Astrophysics and Physics from UC Berkeley in 2014.

Clay Mowry is the CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and a globally recognized space industry executive. Clay is a lifetime AIAA member and was elected as an AIAA Fellow in February 2024.

Before joining AIAA, Clay’s career spanned the commercial launch and satellite sectors as a senior executive for leading space companies and trade associations. 

Clay currently serves as president of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the world’s leading space nonprofit comprising 513 member organizations from 77 countries including space agencies, companies, research organizations, societies, and museums. He will continue in this volunteer role through October 2025.

Clay has held executive leadership roles in the dynamic commercial space ecosystem, spurring innovation and achieving operational successes. Most recently, he served as an advisor to space habitation technology company Vast. Previously, he worked as chief revenue officer at Voyager Space, a satellite, national security, and space station technology company. Earlier, Clay led global sales at Blue Origin, providing commercial and government customers with safe and affordable space transportation services with the reusable New Shepard and New Glenn launch vehicles. He spent 15 years as president and chairman of Arianespace, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a leading global launch services company.

In the 1990s, Clay helped establish the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) and served as its founding executive director. He led the nonprofit alliance of U.S. satellite operators, manufacturers, and ground equipment suppliers, advocating for the commercial satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues.

Clay has an unparalleled passion for empowering the next generation of aerospace explorers and leaders. He enjoys hands-on counseling opportunities, serving as an executive mentor with the Brooke Owens Fellowship. He is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Future Space Leaders Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the career development of young space and satellite industry professionals. He also served for over a decade on the advisory board for the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).

Clay’s impact in aerospace has been recognized with honors including the Commercial Spaceflight Federation James Kuzma Community Award, the Society of Satellite Professionals International Mentor of the Year Award, and the American Astronautical Society Industry Leadership Award.

Clay earned his master‘s degree in business administration from Georgetown University and his bachelor’s degree in politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Clay is a native of Schenectady, New York. He and his wife, Kristin, reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where they raised their three children.

Lindsay Mitchell has worked at AIAA for 5 years and oversees its 7 Regions, 58 Sections and nearly 250 Student Branches around the world, ensuring these communities have the resources they need to engage members at the local level. Before AIAA, she worked at a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit focused in geospatial intelligence, where she managed its young professional, scholarship, and K-12 programs. She lives in Northern Virginia, with her husband, 5-year-old daughter, and Maltese terrier.

My name is David Moeller Sztajnbok and I am a Junior in Aerospace Engineering at USC. I've participated in two editions of the AIAA Individual Aircraft Design competitions, winning second place in 2023 and first place in 2024. I was part of USC's Design Build Fly team for two years, wherein I was the Aerodynamics, Stability & Control Lead for the 2023-2024 year. Last Summer, I interned at REGENT Craft as a Performance Engineering Intern. Just this year, I am starting the Human-Powered Flight Research Team at USC with the goal of beating the endurance world record of a human-powered aircraft.

Prof. Geoffrey Spedding received his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of Bristol, England. He began work as a Research Associate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Southern California in the same year, where he worked on models of insect wings and subsequently on models of atmospheres and oceans. He became a full Professor in 2005, and Chair of the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department in January 2010. In July 2017 he returned to 'normal' faculty life

Dr. Nahum Melamed is a project leader in the Embedded Control Systems Department in the Guidance and Control Subdivision at The Aerospace Corporation. He joined Aerospace in 2003. As a technical lead in Launch Vehicle Software, Dr. Melamed coordinates and guides a team of interdepartmental technical experts, and supports validation and mission readiness certification of the flight software and mission parameters for NASA’s Artemis missions. He conducts planetary defense technical and policy studies, co-chairs planetary defense conferences, serves on exercises exercise organizing committees, and speaks at these venues. He earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. 

Mr. Luis Cuevas

Section Chair, AIAA Los Angeles Section

JetZero

Mr. Ian Clavio

Education Chair, AIAA Los Angeles Section

Northrop Grumman

[AIAA Los Angeles Section], [education-chair@aiaa-lalv.org], [section_chair@aiaa-lalv.org], [contact@aiaa-lalv.org], [https://www.aiaa-lalv.org]