Harlem Launch Alliance Inc

Shout out to the HLA’s Project Messenger team who delivered a phenomenal Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in front of officials from Tripoli Rocket Association and the HLA’s Technical Planning Committee. We are one step closer to flying the CX-7 at the 2021 @spaceportamericacup because of your hard work and dedication!

HLA volunteers pursuing certifications, or those considering to do so, take note!

(3/3) If it wasn’t for the HLA, I wouldn’t have had the chance to study rocketry and aerodynamics. HLA are the people who I share the same vision with, is the trade school where I’m acquiring skills needed for my aerospace engineering journey, and the company where my first engineering job is. I also serve as an Aerodynamic Section Lead for HLA. In winter, I will be studying at The NYU AI school to learn about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Few words tha...t define me are Philosophy, Physics, nature, research, Astronomy, Aerospace Engineering and of course, rockets. I love to stargaze and be absorbed in Philosophical readings. I also love introducing my friends to new places and food. I love to take them to new places, explain about the history of the place and be the tour guide for them. Among many leadership styles, my favorite leadership style is empathy-driven leadership. Teachers and mentors hold significance places in my life. Every single one of them teach me something and introduce me to new skills and subjects. I keep collecting droplets from them, but my bottle will never get full. I love and live to learn; learning is a life-long journey. One day, I would like to introduce Rocketry to my homeland, Burma, a developing country that is still new to model rocketry and aerospace engineering and help a new generation get the chance like I did. My ideal life would be spending my lifetime practicing aerospace engineering, building rockets and helping kids that are out of school due to financial needs go back to school. Here is my favorite quote: ‘The value of our lives is not determined by what we do for ourselves. It is determined by what we do for others’ ~ Simon Sinek See more

(2/3) After I studied Civil Engineering for my Associate Degree, I decided that my parents had provided enough for my education, and it was about time I should stand on my own feet and start my journey for aerospace engineering. I left Burma when I was 18 and came to New York City. As a newcomer, I faced challenges and it took me a while to go back to school. I missed my parents and country a lot. Every time I saw a college student, I wanted to go to college so bad. During t...hose times, I became the girl who was waiting for the bus during my university day, but I worked hard and tried to go back to college while I was learning experiences in my real life classroom, New York City. Then, I was selected as a Miss Burmese New Year in 2015. Ever since then, I started performing traditional Burmese dance at the community and later also at college events. It is my way of giving back to the NYC Burmese community and college. Moreover, I felt like volunteering for NYC Burmese community was good, but it’d be better if I could help more people regardless of their races and religions, so I also joined an organization called Dorot meaning generations in Jewish, which help seniors in NYC by escorting them to appointments, shopping or talking with them to prevent them from experiencing social isolation. Before my aerospace engineering journey started, I went to LaGuardia Community College to study Earth System Science & Environmental Engineering since I believe I need to understand how the Earth System works before I study Space & Planetary Systems. I used to work full time from morning to evening and commute to college for night classes. My professors noticed and advised me to reduce my work hours, but they also knew that I needed to work full time to support myself, so one of them offered me a scholarship for my tuition. I started working as a research assistant for the first two years. Then, I started tutoring math & physics and one of my professors had also offered me to co-teach the Earth System Science & Engineering class. Upon graduating from there, I was also awarded with The Honors Scholar Awards, and The ASAP Scholar Achievement Award. See more

Closing out our week of humans of the HLA, is Khaing Hsu Wai, Aerodynamics Section Lead- Airframe Group. (1/2) My name is Khai. I study Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Physics at The City College of New York. I was born in Myanmar (Burma). My dad is a mechanical engineer who works for a shipyard. As a child, my definition of superhero is engineers because they can build, fix or make things fly. My mom is a pharmaceutical researcher. From her, I learned how to be empat...hetic, open minded, free of bias and to think logically as I saw how she spent her whole life for research. I have encountered people in my life who told me that I shouldn’t study mechanical engineering because I’m a female. But my mechanical engineer father has been great influence for me to study engineering. I grew up in a multi-cultural community. I also have an adopted Mom who is a friend of my parents, she and her family love me as their own child and took care of me when my parents went to work. From her, I learn how to love and give without expecting anything in return. She is a Muslim, her husband belongs to Hinduism and my parents are Buddhists. Because of them, I was exposed to different food and cultures. I became the person who loves diversity and appreciates all cultures and traditions. I believe that for a person, how they grew up or their childhood can tell a lot about what kind of person they’d be in the future. During my university days of studying civil engineering in Burma, while I was waiting for the bus to University, I noticed the girl who has the same age as me, was also waiting for a bus, but to a clothing factory. I figured that she was a laborer from there, and she couldn’t go to school due to financial needs. I was sad that we were in the same age and she couldn’t get access to college education while I’m comfortably going to school with money provided by my parents. I felt bad I couldn’t help her to go to school, but I promised myself when I become educated, I’d help people to get an education.