Tiera Fletcher is an American engineer who graduated from MIT in 2017 with a GPA of 5.0, and works for Boeing. Fletcher majored in aeronautics and astronautics, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. She is one of the designers and structural analysts building the Space Launch System for NASA which is set to send people to Mars. She was born in the greater Atlanta area in Georgia. Her mother Sheila was an accountant and her father was a construction worker. Her parents encouraged her to calculate and measure things in her daily life. These exercises – such as coupon clipping, totaling up grocery receipts, and learning about the applications of architecture – challenged Fletcher and set her apart from other kids her age. At eleven years old, she honed in on her interest in aerospace engineering while participating in an aerospace program put on by Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, she participated in a mentorship program where she helped other MIT students. After her first year, Fletcher participated in undergraduate research studying design optimization of aircraft at MIT. During her second year, she again participated in undergraduate research, this time with a focus on network analysis. Within her junior and senior years of college, Fletcher participated in internships at Boeing. From June 2015 to June 2016, she was a Systems Engineering Intern there where she helped design, test, and collaborate with other professionals on Boeing products. The following year from June 2016 to June 2017 she was a design engineer and stress analyst intern at Boeing, where she helped with the design process and analysis of the Space Launch System for NASA. Post graduation, Fletcher took up a position at Boeing as a Structural Analysis Engineer where she is one of the lead engineers working on the Space Launch System for NASA which aims to put humans on Mars. The area that Fletcher works on is the exploratory upper stage of the spacecraft which helps the craft complete its ascent phase. Moreover, she is the youngest member within the Engine Section Task Leading team responsible for this. She is also co-chair of MIT’s Black Women’s Alliance, where she introduced astronaut Yvonne Cagle at an MIT community-wide talk, “Women in Space,” in May 2015. She has said that “You have to look forward to your dream and you can’t let anybody get in the way of it,” and encourages that “No matter how tough it may be, no matter how many tears you might cry, you have to keep pushing. And you have to understand that nothing comes easy. Keeping your eyes on the prize, you can succeed.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiera_Guinn_Fletcher

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