UMBRA BOARD '23-'24

Zackary Loux

President

Hi everyone! My name is Zack and I am the president of UMBRA, as well as, the Fluids Systems Lead for our project Inferno. I have been apart of UMBRA for three years now and have been involved in various projects: Workhorse, ExoBronco, Nasa Student Launch (NSL), & Inferno. I have also been the scheduler for UMBRA's board in years past. I am a regular gym rat and a gear head. My favorite music is Rock and Roll, from classic to punk. As the President I am very excited and motivated to help this club soar to new heights and provide ample opportunity for all members!

Carlos Romo

Vice President

My name is Carlos Romo and I am the Vice President of UMBRA as well as the Program Manager of UMBRA Propulsion. I have been involved in UMBRA since my first year starting out in the Active Stabilization Rocket Project and from there did propellant characterization in the Workhorse Project in UMBRA Propulsion during my second year. My third year, I was the lead of the Booster Propulsion sub-team in ExoBronco and I assisted in getting together the motor for Singularity's final launch. I have also been the Engineering Student Council Representative for both UMBRA and AIAA. Outside of aerospace and rocketry, I am a car enthusiast and currently trying to slowly build my 1994 325i. I am starting to collect vinyls and my favorite artists are Kendrick Lamar, MF DOOM, Tyler the Creator, and The Doors.

Tori Roaf

Treasurer,
E-Council Representative

Hi there! My name is Tori Roaf, and I’m the ’23-24 Treasurer of UMBRA, as well as a member of UMBRA’s Propulsion team for three consecutive years. I am involved in other clubs and activities on campus, such as Data Analysis for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Dr. Nakhjiri’s CubeStep Project, AIAA, and am serving as this year’s Treasurer for the Engineering Student Council (ESC). In past years, I have been a part of UMBRA’s NASA Student Launch Initiative where I served as the Designated Safety Officer, as well as participated in public relation networking events for BroncoSpace. I have had the pleasure of representing the UMBRA chapter at the Students for Exploration and Development in Space (SEDS) conference, SpaceVision, in 2021, and am looking forward to doing so again this fall in Washington D.C.! Outside of clubs, I work for Northrop Grumman as a Mission and Ground Ops Systems Engineer, working on the James Webb Space Telescope. I have been a tutor in all subjects pertaining to Astronomy and Chemistry for six years, starting from when I was a student at Santa Barbara City College. In my free time, I enjoy attending concerts and festivals, collecting vinyl records, and hanging out with my friends!

Jordan Aquino

Scheduler

Hi all! My name is Jordan Aquino and I am the scheduler for UMBRA, as well as a member on our Project Casper. I have been in UMBRA for 3 years now, taking part in multiple projects so far such as Project Workhorse, NASA Student Launch, and UMBRA Student Launch. I have been in back to back leadership positions for the last year, so I thought UMBRA board was the next logical step. I love cooking and anime (especially Gundam), and you'll probably gather that very quickly. I'm excited for this upcoming year, and moreso excited to see what I can do for you!

Simon Uttam

Secretary

Hello! My name is Simon and I’m UMBRA’s secretary. I’m an aerospace engineer in my sophomore year and am super excited to keep building up this amazing club of ours. This coming year I’ll be on the valves team for Casper as well as the fluids team for Inferno, and last year I was on USL. When I’m not building things in my backyard, trimming my bonsai or going to the beach I'm usually at school or doing homework, but I usually just do that at school. I’ve found that associating places with actions makes me more effective in single tasks rather than if I tried to do any work at home when I had just been playing around with my hydrogen torch. Anyways, if you ever see me come up and say hi!

Yssabelle Valencia

PR Manager

Hey y'all! I'm Yssa, 4th year ARO major, UMBRA's Public Relations Manager, and ExoBronco's systems lead. I moved here from Guam to attend CPP and have been grateful and driven to pursue these amazing opportunities since then! I've been a member of UMBRA since my freshman year and had the pleasure of being on and working with UMBRA board since my 2nd year. I have been in the payload subteam for Active Stabilization and the systems subteams for the Multistage Rocket Project, Singularity Project, and ExoBronco. When not doing homework, I enjoy karaoke or Just Dance. As the UMBRA PR Manager, I manage the @calpoly_rocketry Instagram account, making most of the posters and graphics. As a fellow college student trying to pay for out-of-state tuition, I work on-campus as a resident advisor for housing, orientation leader for 1st years and transfers, and a student assistant for the MEP-WiSE office.

Enzo Nelligan

Outreach

I'm Enzo Nelligan, a Junior Aerospace Engineering student here at CPP. UMBRA took me in my freshman year and I was excited and ready to start, some people must've seen this and I was placed on a project team and the UMBRA board within my first month. I've since been a part of solid and liquid propulsion teams, sat in three different board positions, and devoted countless hours towards being project manager and helping freshmen gain the experience that I did in my freshman year. I really enjoy talking, which made me a great person to start and host multiple weekly workshops. Additionally I was grateful enough to intern at Aerojet Rocketdyne this past summer as a project and component engineer.

Ian Byres

Event Coordinator

My name is Ian Byres, a 3rd year Aerospace Engineering major, the lead for the Sustainer Motor, and Event Coordinator for UMBRA this year. Outside of rocketry and endless homework, I enjoy videogames and everything nerdy, travel, and recently learning a second language.

Trinity Neades

Quartermaster,
Fundraising

Hey all! I'm Trinity Neades, and I am UMBRA's Fundraiser and Quartermaster! I am now a 4th year Aerospace Engineering major with a primary interest in astronautics in terms of orbital mechanics and structural analysis. I am also involved in AIAA and am on board for TEA @ CPP. I was previously on the Singularity structures subteam and am going continue to be apart of Design, Build, Fly and as well going to be participating in UMBRA's Casper project under structures. As a list for my hobbies goes, I spend a lot of my free time playing video games, going to theme parks, and building Lego when I can afford to. I very much enjoy rock, mainly The Strokes, David Bowie, and Weezer, and have a keen knowledge in pirate shanties. As for previous work in the industry goes, I was very grateful and fortunate to have been an intern at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the summer of 2023 as a Payload and Small Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer.

Daniel Paek

Webmaster

I'm Daniel Paek, UMBRA's Webmaster, and the guy who keeps this website updated and accurate. I'm currently a 2nd year Aerospace Engineering major and the Recovery sub-team lead for our Casper rocket project. My previous projects include the avionics team on our Fall '22 NASA Student Launch team and our Spring '23 UMBRA Student Launch team. Outside of schoolwork and studying, I enjoy watching baseball, playing video games, and goofing off in table tennis. As a big fan of yacht rock music, please refrain from asking me about any of my musical opinions. If you find any problems with this website or have any suggestions for it, feel free to reach out to me through our club email!

Matthew Marz

Underclass Representative

Hi everyone! My name is Matthew Marz and I am UMBRA's Underclassmen Representative. I'm a 2nd year ARO major while also pursuing my math minor. Currently, I am apart of the propulsion sub-team for Casper, UMBRA's liquid rocket project. Outside of selling my soul to rocketry, I enjoy playing video games, trying to cook, and working on other projects such as my own rocket. If you ever spot me on campus, feel free to say hi and ask any questions about UMBRA.

Donald Edberg

Faculty Advisor

Donald Edberg, professor in the aerospace engineering department, joined Cal Poly Pomona in 2001 after earning an aerospace sciences doctorate from Stanford University. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Engineering, the Northrop Grumman Faculty Award for teaching excellence, and most recently the 2019 Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching. Edberg spearheaded the development of Uninhabited Vehicle Lab and serves as UMBRA's faculty advisor. He is the champion and adviser for CPP Zero-Gravity flight team that was selected three times by NASA, a rare honor as only a few institutions in the nation achieve this distinction. Under his supervision, student design teams have secured top three finishes 19 times (including seven first place finishes) since 2007. . Edberg authored the textbook “Space Launch Vehicle Design,” which has been endorsed and accepted for publication by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

UMBRA BOARD