Daniel’s Thoughts Before AIAA SciTech

My name is Daniel de Jong, and ever since I was four, I’ve wanted to be an aerospace engineer. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gone to various events, camps, and places where I have continued to learn and develop my knowledge and skills relating to aerospace. When I was 14, I started full-time dual enrollment at Kent State University, and I am now a high school and college junior. In addition to taking classes to fulfill high school requirements, I have been following both the aerospace and mechatronics engineering roadmaps at Kent. This past semester was my favorite because I was taking almost all engineering classes, in which I made and designed a hovercraft in a subgroup of my Intro to Engineering class and modeled Starship SN30/Superheavy B12 in my CAD class.

Now that I am 16, I have started to apply for internships and join professional organizations such as AIAA. I began to consider going to SciTech in order to network and find more internship opportunities, but then I received the email from Higher Orbits that there would be a panel of Go For Launch! students that I could apply to join. As I had greatly enjoyed and benefited from my Go For Launch! experience, I was very interested in applying.

Michelle has had a substantial influence on me personally, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be on the Higher Orbits panel and to be able to show how this organization benefits the entire aerospace industry. At the end of my Go For Launch! experience in Mars, PA, Michelle recommended a book to me called “To Mars and Beyond, Fast!” by Dr. Chang-Díaz which solidified my interest in deep space non-chemical propulsion— specifically VASIMR and other plasma-based electric propulsion systems.