In our Summer 2021 series, we're asking alumni and current students to tell us about their career interests, experiences, and reflections.Are you a May 2021 grad? Take 5 minutes to tell the career center about your current post-grad plans (including if you're currently searching for opportunities)! Just complete the annual First Destinations Survey no matter where you are in the decision-making process.
My name is Martin Keuchkerian, and I graduated in 2020 with a B.S. in aerospace engineering with a minor in astronomy. Ever since being a little kid I have been fascinated with the universe and space, and my goal is to help create the technology that helps humans explore it. Besides my academic passion, I love fitness and being very active. I love rugby, which I played for thirteen years up to my graduation, and also enjoy training for triathlons, crossfit and dancing.
While at UVA, I was part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Peer Mentoring Program, Latino Student Alliance, and also the rugby team. After graduation I was a hot section design engineer for GE Aviation in their Edison Engineering Development Program, but left to go compete in Exatlon USA in order to create a scholarship as an homage to my mother. Now I'm gearing up to start my new role as a spacecraft research engineer with Southwest Research Institute.
Describe your current role and tell us how your undergraduate experience (in or outside of the classroom) prepared you for it.
My new role as a spacecraft research engineer will primarily focus with the altitude determination and control subsystems. One of my favorite classes, orbital mechanics, helped me tremendously to acquire the base knowledge necessary to be effective in this role. Additionally, my senior design project, the 1U Cubesat named CECIL, allowed me to hone the soft skills necessary to succeed in a research and team oriented environment.
Walk us through a typial day at work.
While at GE, my days were very long. I used to wake up at 5:30 am and go to the gym for an hour and a half. I would then drive to the facilities and work alongside the senior engineer in charge of the CDN (Combustor, Diffuser, and Nozzle) module, and tackle different projects simultaneously. Most of these involved overseeing part manufacturing processes, and reviewing documentation for quality assurance. I additionally worked in drawing changes, documenting design record books, and interacting with vendors and suppliers. Towards the end of my time with GE, I also led a combustor part study which I presented and got approved by the GE board and the customer. The most critical skills that made my time at GE successful were soft skills such as communication, team working, time management and multitasking that I acquired through my academic career and internship experience. I also benefited from knowing how to use programs such as SolidWorks and Python.
In what way(s) did you feel most and least prepared for your job?
For the new role I will be starting with Southwest Research Institute, I believe I'm well prepared with the basics concepts involving the job but there will be a lot of on the job (and outside on my own) learning. Unfortunately, I did not take a controls specific class while at UVA or learned simulation programs such as STK, which will be critical for this role. Still, there are a lot of online courses and free resources online that I will be studying prior to starting to get more acquainted with the demands of the roles. Additionally, SWRI provides training programs that I will be taking full advantage of once I start.
How do you stay up to date with your skills and industry knowledge?
I follow lots of newsletters and instagram accounts, such as Space.com, relating to space and techonology news. This allows me to not only be up to date with new industry developments, but also learn more about the universe which at the end of the day is my passion.
Think back to your job search. Share some of its challenges and successes.
The most important resources in my opinion are the career development centers (the engineering and the general one). I remember talking to the career counselors weekly, if not daily at times, about anything to do with career search, interviewing and decision making. I got my resume revised by at least a dozen people which helped polish the presentation and language tremendously. I also did many rounds of interview prep, presentation prep, and once I received my offers, I got help making decision charts and what variables to consider. If there was one thing I wish I had done differently, was going to the career centers and meeting the counselors since first year. I also highly recommend going to all career fairs, and the events that are often held prior like employer resume review.
If you could go back to college and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Do not be discouraged by a test score that was not perfect or a project that did not go as smoothly as you expected it. These are amazing learning opportunities to revise your knowledge on the subject, or to prepare you for what a real job environment will look like. I often found that the information about a subject that I remember most clearly is something I had made a mistake on a test and had to go back and relearn that material. On the other hand, projects not going smoothly is what I have encountered in the professional industry and learning how to react to and overcome these obstacles are some of the best skills you can learn.
For current students hoping to go into your field, what are some of the most effective things they can do right now to prepare themselves for future success?
To all the students I have mentored, I always tell them to do what they truly enjoy doing outside of their academic studies. Playing and training for rugby did not directly help me become a better engineer, but it did teach me skills such as communication, leadership, conflict solving, time management, and discipline that I found were crucial in my full time roles. If your passion is robotics and you join the robotics team, all the better. One skill that I would recommend engineers trying to enter the space industry is coding. Python,Matlab, C++, Java, anything. Coding has become a key part of engineering in general and being able to do that, while also having your aerospace background, will lead to a very successful career.
Learn more about organizations and resources mentioned by Martin:
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Peer Mentoring
LatinX Student Alliance
GE Aviation and their Edison Engineering Development Program (plus, you can follow GE's employer profile on Handshake)
Scholarship Martin established in honor of his mom
Southwest Research Institute (plus, you can follow SWRI's employer profile on Handshake)