From Rejection to NASA: A Student’s Engineering Journey

In San Antonio, opportunities often grow out of work happening in schools, universities and public institutions. Here is one development worth understanding and a few ways to turn it into action.

The university profiled mechanical engineering senior Patrick Hughes, who estimated that he had received about 50 internship rejections before connecting with a NASA representative at a campus career event. His subsequent work at Johnson Space Center focused on parachute systems used to slow spacecraft during re-entry.

Source: UT San Antonio Today — March 17, 2026.

Career paths are rarely linear. Hughes’s account highlights the importance of explaining your work to people in the field, learning from unsuccessful applications and staying open to a well-timed conversation.

Question to explore: Imagine you have 60 seconds to describe your favorite technical or research project. What problem did you solve, how did you test it, and what would you improve?

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