Academics
The goal is clear — reach the edge of space.
It's an ambition that shows up in many forms at Cal State Long Beach, particularly in the Hung Family College of Engineering, which enrolled more than 6,300 students in the fall of 2025.
For some students, it means building a liquid bipropellant rocket capable of crossing the Kármán line — the internationally recognized boundary of space — a challenge that pushes them into the kind of complexity typically reserved for professional engineers. For others, it means designing spacecraft and advanced drone systems, or analyzing airflow and aerodynamic performance in wind tunnels. In labs across campus, students move between classrooms and specialized labs, applying theory in environments designed to mirror the burgeoning aerospace industry just across town.
Together, these experiences reflect a broader approach to learning: one grounded in building, testing and solving real aerospace problems.
Through coursework, research opportunities and student-led engineering teams, undergrads gain hands-on experience designing technologies and solving problems that mirrors the challenges faced by professional engineers.
a student-built CubeSat developed through a NASA-supported project, will measure Earth’s blue light emissions from orbit. It's a mission that will help scientists better understand how artificial light affects ecosystems, human health and astronomical observations, while giving students valuable experience. Meanwhile, and the develop high-powered rockets and propulsion systems.
“What the Beach Launch Team does with liquid rocketry is the closest experience a student can get to working in the aerospace industry,” said Dan Morgan, a former physics student at The Beach.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Praveen Shankar said students regularly compete in NASA-sponsored rocketry competitions and earn top-10 finishes.
"The competitions put students in real-world situations," Shankar said. “They work closely with NASA engineers through numerous review phases, and their projects aren’t limited to rocket design. Like real missions, they also have a particular payload that their rocket must support, which requires considerable research, prototyping and iteration."
Many of these projects are supported by the Beach Rocket Lab, where propulsion systems and other components are designed, prototyped and tested.
Cal State Long Beach is a key partner in the California Aerospace Technologies Institute of Excellence (CATIE), a nationally recognized collaboration linking universities, community colleges, research institutions and aerospace companies. Other partners include Cal Poly Pomona, Antelope Valley College, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Mojave Air and Space Port, as well as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Northrop Grumman and Virgin Galactic.
Expanding access to engineering education is another priority. Programs such as the Beach Engineering Student Success Team (BESST) support first-year students from diverse backgrounds as they develop the math and study skills needed to succeed in rigorous engineering programs.
Many of these students go on to work with aerospace companies headquartered in Long Beach, contributing directly to the region’s Space Beach enterprise.
“I came to the College of Engineering with a student-success focus,” said Hung College of Engineering Dean Jinny Rhee. “There are groups of students whose talents are not being realized because of factors that have nothing to do with their ability to contribute to the field. We will change this through programs like BESST, which has been extremely successful at fostering study skills and math achievement. We plan to capitalize on the re-emergence of large-scale aerospace enterprise and position the college as a space and aerospace hub to the benefit of our students and faculty.”
Solid Propulsion & Combustion Lab
Mechanical engineering students explore how fuels ignite, burn and release energy — research that’s critical for building better, safer and more efficient rocket engines.
Beach Launch Team
Beach Rocket Lab founder Mahdi Yoozbashizadeh helps the Beach Launch Team launch student-built rockets in the Mojave Desert. “Most of my undergraduate research assistants have internship experience in major companies such as Northrop, Boeing and Relativity Space,” he said.
Wind Tunnel
The Hung Family College of Engineering is revitalizing one of its wind tunnels with the help of new faculty member Cody Karcher, an MIT-trained aeronautical engineer who specializes in aircraft design optimization. The tunnel allows for precise aerodynamic measurements.
Beach Rocket Lab
A nationally recognized research space, 91ɫ's Rocket Lab gives students the chance to do what few undergraduates experience: design, build and launch liquid-fueled rockets..
SharkSat Team
SharkSat is a student-led satellite project selected for NASA’s . Designed to monitor blue light emissions from space, SharkSat involves students who collaborate on everything from avionics to communications with support from both NASA and industry experts.
PACK Lab
PACK (Perception, Actuation, Control and Network) Lab Director Tairan Liu, a professor in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering uses a netted flight cage featuring a micro-swarm of drones and other research-grade AUVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
