About Xyla Foxlin
Xyla Foxlin is a mechatronics engineer, pilot, and creator whose work at the intersection of engineering and storytelling has reshaped how technical subjects reach mass audiences. With a BSE from Case Western Reserve University, her YouTube channel spans high-power rockets, custom camper builds, composite fabrication, math and physics explanations, boatbuilding, and the full-scale construction of an experimental aircraft of which she will be the test pilot.
Foxlin's channel has over 500k subscribers and amassed over 35M views, with her total social media reach over 1.1M; but Foxlin’s portfolio extends beyond content. She developed a high-power rocketry kit designed for Level 1 & 2 certification flights, and has her own signature line of Estes kits coming out in the fall. In 2024 she won the Sloan Foundation’s first $100k YouTube grant, where she is documenting the construction of a wooden airplane from raw lumber to flight based on 1929 blueprints.
Foxlin has also emerged as a national voice for pilot mental health. After losing her FAA medical for seeking therapy, she led a campaign challenging regulations that deter aviators from seeking medical care. Following the release of her video "The FAA is in Crisis”, over 3,300 messages to 442 legislators were delivered. The Mental Health in Aviation Act was introduced in the House in April, with expected Senate introduction soon.
Prior to YouTube, she was the founder of a 501c3 nonprofit whose #PrincessesWithPowerTools program has taught over 20k kids to use their first tool. Her college invention turned tech startup, Parihug, was 178% funded on Kickstarter. As founder and CEO she raised over $200k in funding, and has been featured in the New York Times, The Verge, Mashable, Google Made with Code, and more. In 2022 a full-size statue of Foxlin was placed in the Smithsonian as part of an AAAS exhibit of prominent Women in STEM. In 2024, Foxlin successfully completed a transcontinental solo flight in her 1946 Cessna 140.