From Community College to UCLA: Former NASA Student Researcher Ready to Launch Bruin Career in Mechanical Engineering

Angelina Yalda has always seen engineering as more than a compilation of numbers and formulas. For her, it’s a creative pursuit. With diverse interests spanning from projects at NASA to fashion design and post-punk music, Yalda says the worlds of art and engineering are not so different at all.

After spending two years earning her associate’s degree in mathematics, sciences and engineering, Yalda is preparing to start her first week of classes at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. As an incoming third-year mechanical engineering transfer student, the Southern California native said she hopes to explore a career merging her loves of art and technical problem-solving.

“With creativity, you are not limited to one thing; you can come up with anything and then translate your idea to tangible reality,” Angelina Yalda said.

Yalda’s journey to UCLA was shaped not only by her academic achievements but also by hands-on experiences from projects and extracurricular activities at College of the Canyons — a community college in Santa Clarita, California. Realizing that success as a community college student would demand she make the most of her time, Yalda dove into the opportunity to join the Astronomy and Physics Club and the Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement Program, which gave her an early glimpse into the world of aerospace.

“I knew I had a limited window before transferring, and that motivated me to collect all the knowledge I could from my academics and extracurriculars,” Yalda said. “I wanted to set myself up as best as I could so that I would be ready upon leaving for another school. I put myself out there early and tried to gain as much experience as possible.” 

It was through her involvement with the Astronomy and Physics Club that Yalda was first invited to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to participate in RockOn, a hands-on workshop that guides participants through creating and launching a sounding rocket experiment from scratch over a six-day period. Yalda worked on a guided sounding rocket payload during the project, gaining practical skills including soldering and rocket assembly. But it was working on the more advanced RockSat-X program during her second year with NASA that deepened her love for mechanical engineering. She went to the machine shop almost every day and saw every aspect of the project — from initial proposals to troubleshooting and fabrication.

“It was such an immersive experience that gave me a more holistic approach to engineering,” Yalda said. “Now I find myself thinking about how what I do as a mechanical engineer will impact the rest of the project or how I can make something that’s efficient for the whole project.”

These experiences influenced Yalda’s decision to transfer to UCLA because she was looking for a school that valued both innovation and design. After researching multiple schools, she determined that UCLA’s mechanical engineering program was a perfect fit. Now, as Yalda prepares for her new career at UCLA, she’s excited to tap into the school’s resources and networks, including exploring engineering clubs like Bruin Racing and utilizing UCLA Samueli’s Makerspace for creative projects.

Fascinated by the role of engineering in creating immersive experiences in places like theme parks, Yalda said she looks forward to exploring creative career opportunities that would utilize her previous aerospace experience, perhaps helping design NASA visitor centers that provide an immersive experience one day.

“With creativity, you are not limited to one thing; you can come up with anything and then translate your idea to tangible reality,” she said. “If you’ve ever smelled freshly baked cookies at Disneyland, it’s not baking or magic; it’s well-executed engineering — and I want to be a part of that. My ultimate goal is to create the same kind of magic I once experienced as a child, but now for future generations.”