Valentina Marini Fichera

Valentina Marini Fichera is a dedicated mechanical engineering student at Columbia University, expected to graduate in 2025. Valentina serves as the Co-Lead for the Rockets team at the Columbia Space Initiative, overseeing the design and testing of solid and hybrid rockets, achieving notable successes including a 3rd place finish at the Spaceport America Cup in 2023 and a 2nd place finish at FAR-OUT in 2024. Valentina has also held various roles including Airframe Lead, Secretary, and Airframe Engineer, while contributing to Columbia Robogals as Outreach Chair. Additionally, Valentina has gained practical experience through internships at Firefly Aerospace, PARALLEL DEVELOPMENT, NASA, Fugue, and Tryolabs, enhancing engineering skills in assembly, design, and software development. Valentina graduated as Valedictorian from Loyola School in 2021.