Rana Eyit is a Mechanical Engineering student who transferred to UCLA after graduating from Clovis Community College in Spring 2025. Originally from Türkiye, she moved to the United States four years ago. Her academic journey has been shaped by

hands-on engineering, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary projects spanning robotics, materials science, and particle physics.

Rana has participated in several NASA programs, including NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) in Fall 2024 and the L’SPACE Mission Concept Academy (MCA), which she completed in Summer. During MCA, she served as Deputy Project Manager of Resources and Outreach Officer, gaining experience in mission design, systems thinking, and collaborative problem-solving. She continued her involvement

with the program as Program Analyst Mentor for the Spring 2026 MCA cohort and she is excited to support the new cohort of MCA in Summer 2026.

At UCLA, Rana is an active member of the Formula team’s chassis subteam, where she focuses on welding and designing jigs, and competes in battle bot competitions in the 30 lb category.

Rana has interned at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a research intern, where she first worked on battery research for EV applications and will return to work on algal biomass feedstocks for hydrothermal liquefaction and conversion to sustainable aviation fuel, as well as improvements to continuous HTL system flow for the summer. She is passionate about pursuing a research track where she can contribute to both science and engineering.