Adam Steltzner
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Palm Springs, CA US
"When you look back at your life, you remember the great highs and the great lows. The middle sort of doesn't stand out that much, so never fear risking the great lows in pursuit of the great highs."
Career Roadmap
Adam's work combines: Engineering, Science, and Accomplishing Goals
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Mechanical Engineering
University of California-Davis
Graduate Degree
Engineering Mechanics
California Institute of Technology
Doctorate
Engineering Mechanics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Isn't sure if he ever graduated high school, dropped out of the Berklee College of Music.
2.
Found himself continually pulling out of things just as they got serious.
3.
Realized he was becoming his father, who'd never really had a passion.
4.
Wanted to find something he loved and commit to it, so he took an astronomy course at a community college.
5.
Says the equation "f=ma" changed his life; he realized that physics used a beautiful language that he wanted to learn.
6.
"Surrendered to the learning process," worked really hard at his education and earned a Ph.D. in engineering physics.
7.
Led the mechanical engineering of the Curiosity Mars rover landing.
8.
Says his job has definite "failures," but thinks that attempting and failing is always better than not trying.
