Hidden Figures No More: 22-Year-Old Is A NASA Engineer!

Hidden Figures is the much-acclaimed movie about the true story of young, Black women mathematicians using their incredible skills to help to get the first man on the moon. That took place back in the 1950s and 1960s. Now, there is a new Black women engineer who will not stay hidden at all. Tiera Guinn is just 22 years old and she’s already working with NASA.

As a Rocket Structural Design and Analysis Engineer for the Space Launch System that aerospace company Boeing is building for NASA, Guinn designs and analyzes parts of a rocket that she said will be one of the biggest and most powerful in history.

Plus, it just so happens that Hidden Figures is at the top of Guinn's favorite movies.

Guinn, whose life seems like a sequel to the much-acclaimed movie, has been wanting to become an aerospace engineer since she was a just a little girl.

“When [my mom and I] would go to the grocery store, she would get me to clip coupons [and] put it in my coupon organizer,” Guinn told WBRC News. “By the time we got to the register, I’d have to calculate the exact total, including tax. And I did that since I was six years old.”

“One day I saw a plane fly by and I just had this realization, ‘huh, I can design planes. I’m going to be an aerospace engineer,”’ Guinn said.

Just like that. Bam!

She was serious, Guinn chose all of her middle school classes accordingly to the high school that would best prepare her for her future profession looking up towards the stars! Vision + A Plan + Dedication = Success!

So what's next for this phenomenal young woman?

Now, Guinn will soon be graduating from MIT with a 5.0 GPA and is clearly on a path to her dream. She said she’d advise young girls looking to follow in her footsteps to expect obstacles throughout their journey.

“You have to look forward to your dream and you can’t let anybody get in the way of it,” she said. “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.”