Alexandria Langford is in her junior year at the University of Southern California (USC) pursuing her bachelors’ degree in the field of astronautical engineering.  Her main educational objective is to maintain a high grade point average in all necessary classes to enter into USC’s five year masters program.  After obtaining her masters, she plans to get her doctorate in astronautical engineering.

Alexandria demonstrates an innate desire to challenge herself academically.  She completed a senior level course, AME 404 Mechanical Engineering Problems, in her first semester as a sophomore and earned a grade above average – a feat at USC that is uncommon.  She is a team member of the USC Rocket Lab where she helped design, build and launch a Del Grande rocket at the Mojave Test Area and a Student Leader/Teacher for the USC Joint Educational Project where she assists with local sixth grade classes in topics such as Classical Mythology.

This past spring Alexandria had a chance to co-op at the NASA Johnson Space Center, an opportunity which she describes as “one of the greatest experiences of my life”.  She worked in the Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility Branch and learned about test procedures, electrical engineering, communication and teamwork.  She also gained experience in analyzing data and compiling test reports based on observations.

Alexandria is a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).  Once a month, with her fellow NSBE chapter members, she visits local elementary schools to talk to young children about STEM.  Their mission is to increase their interest in math and science by creating simple engineering projects and activities for these elementary school students.  Volunteering at the local schools as a diverse young female engineer, Alexandria wants to inspire youth to excel in math and science so that they will one day want to become the engineers of the future.  Using her co-op experience at NASA as a guiding tool, she is excited to share such an experience to motivate these youth to set goals for a career in STEM.  By motivating the next generation’s interest in STEM, she hopes to increase the number of Hispanic and African American engineers and reach new achievements in technology.

Alexandria is a 2011 HENAAC-Victoria Alegria Tracy Memorial Scholarship recipient.