by Reaching for the Stars: How a Business Student Became a NASA Engineer
Benjamin Roe discusses his team’s analysis with visiting alumni and Finance chair Cyrus Ramezani, left. To his right is team member Jivitesh Kamboj. (Photo: Pat Pemberton)
When asked what it is about space that he finds so intriguing, Jordan Ticktin’s face twists into an expression of genuine bewilderment.
“I can’t answer the question of why I like space,” said Ticktin (Industrial Technology, ’18, MS, Industrial Engineering, ’19), who works for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a quality assurance engineer. “I cannot fathom not being this passionate about space. I can’t imagine not looking up at the night sky and feeling this way.”
Ticktin’s fascination with space grows more evident with every minute he gushes about the subject.
“I have held things in my hand that are now on the surface of another planet,” he said. “I spent a summer inspecting lubricated mechanisms for the Sample Caching System on the Perseverance rover.”
The Perseverance rover, which Ticktin helped bring to fruition, was launched in 2020 and is now actively doing work on the surface of Mars.
But with this ardent excitement comes a striking question – the elephant in the room. How did Ticktin end up pursuing an undergraduate business degree? And even more curious, how did he end up at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an engineer?
As a child growing up in Western LA County, Ticktin watched “Star Trek” and fostered a passion for space in tandem with his dad.
“Space has always been a passion of mine in every aspect of my life,” Ticktin said. “The books I read are mostly sci-fi, the TV shows and movies I watch are mostly sci-fi, many of the podcasts I listen to are space-related, and much of the news I read is space-focused. Shoot, even when I travel I try to visit foreign space agencies and planetariums!”
When reflecting on how his fascination with space began, he thinks of his father. “It was particularly a shared passion with my dad,” he said.
“We follow space news, go to air and space museums and planetariums whenever we travel, and flew to Florida to watch the final Space Shuttle launch. We also watched space movies – From the Earth to the Moon was a favorite – and sci-fi movies and TV shows.,” he said. “He’s the one who got me into Star Trek.”
In high school, Ticktin was also interested in computer science. And when applying to college, he came across Cal Poly’s Industrial Technology program (now Industrial Technology and Packaging).
“I chose the major by accident,” Ticktin said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know what it was when I picked it. I actually just thought it was something else.”
Ticktin chose the ITP major under the impression that it was an integrated blend of business administration and computer science. Once he began his degree, he quickly realized this was not the case, and an important question quickly arose: Should I pick up a CS minor, or switch to CS entirely?
But Ticktin found that he enjoyed using his hands in ITP; he loved making things and appreciated the fact that he was getting to use his hands. So Ticktin opted to stay in the major and add CS as a minor.
Space has always been a passion of mine in every aspect of my life.
Jordan Ticktin
This decision ultimately helped him in his NASA career.
“Just about everything I learned in college, I still use today in my job,” Ticktin said. “I guess beekeeping was just for fun, but I use those ideas in my personal life. Everything comes back in some way!
After his undergraduate studies, Ticktin pursued a master’s degree in engineering – also at Cal Poly – for several reasons: He loved school. He knew it would pay off. But there was one more reason that was a little less clear-cut.
“I wanted the credibility of an engineering degree,” Ticktin said, “But that was largely in my head. I learned a lot, it paid off, but really, I had everything I needed to get started from OCOB.”
“Imposter syndrome.” Ticktin continued. “That’s why I got a master’s in engineering.”
Despite the impactful support he encountered throughout his time in college, Ticktin didn’t know where he fit in.
“I spent my first three years at Cal Poly in a permanent existential crisis of not knowing what I wanted to do after college,” he reflects. “I didn’t want to go into sales, not packaging. I remember telling people I want to work with engineers, but not as an engineer… But I had no idea what that meant.
“The jobs I thought were really cool were engineering jobs, but I didn’t think I had the qualifications, or even the skills.”
One day, Ticktin unexpectedly found his calling.
“I met (NASA) JPL at a career fair,” he said.
In person, Ticktin was able to explain how the different pieces of his identity fit together – and even more importantly, recruiters were able to hear his “oozing passion,” as he calls it, in real-time.
He interned at JPL for four summers between 2016 and 2019, and returned full-time in 2020.
Nowadays, Ticktin works in Pasadena, California, where JPL is based. The site specializes in robotic exploration of the solar system.
“It can look like earth science satellites studying climate change, for example,” he said. “Anything that doesn’t involve a human.”
As a quality assurance engineer, he supports process improvement – making sure everything is right the first time, before a robotic spacecraft is launched, before a satellite is completed.
To Jordan Ticktin, nothing is more interesting that planetary exploration.
“I love that I’m an explorer. The purpose of my job, our jobs, is to explore the universe and our place within it, for the betterment of humanity,” he said. “I periodically pause and think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe they’ll pay me to do this for a living!’”