Embry‑Riddle to SpaceX: Ian William’s Path to Success

As a child, Aerospace Engineering major Ian Williams (’26) was captivated by the idea of figuring out how things work, learning how to improve them and building new things. He had a keen interest in science fiction and space, saying, “Growing up on Doctor Who and the Discovery Channel was quite formative, but what really hooked me was picking up a real book for a change.”

“The autobiography 'Spaceman' by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimo remains the single most impactful story of my life. Part of my career development has been understanding that man’s greatest achievements are not born of a single mind,” he said.

A New Horizon

When choosing a university, Embry‑Riddle was an easy choice for Ian. On a road trip to the Keys from Ian’s home in Maryland, he discovered Embry‑Riddle on his way through Daytona Beach.

“It’s not a huge school, and that is by far what I like most about it,” he said. I’ve made meaningful friendships and interactions, both of which I owe to the size and like-mindedness of the student body. You’ll never run into a person on campus who shares zero common ground with you.”

Extracurriculars Are Key

During his time at Embry‑Riddle, Ian has participated in student organizations and on-campus research, including hands-on work at the Experimental Rocket Propulsion Lab (ERPL) and the Thermal Science Lab at the MicaPlex.

At ERPL, Ian worked mainly with the fluids division, contributing to two major projects.

“I contributed to the development, construction and testing of the propellant feed systems for Odyssey, a hybrid rocket engine, and Juno, a liquid bipropellant engine,” he said. One of his biggest takeaways was sticking with his commitment, working from easy tasks to more complex ones.

“I started out with simple tasks, like scrubbing P&IDs [piping and instrumentation diagrams] and making CAD [computer-aided design] models of individual system components. Doing such things helps build a valuable skillset, like knowing what a P&ID is in the first place and understanding its components,” he explained.

“From there, I progressed into more responsible positions like procurement and physical assembly of the system. With a very solid foundation, you eventually build enough confidence to start designing your own tooling, test rigs or fluid systems.”

Ian also served as the director of Registered Student Organizations (RSO) relations in student government. “This was my first experience in an executive-level position. Part of being a good engineer is being a good leader and communicator,” he said.

Interning at Parry Labs

Recognizing room for improvement within his grasp of software and electrical engineering, Ian decided to explore opportunities outside of the aerospace industry — completing an internship at Parry Labs during the summer between his second and third year at Embry‑Riddle.

“Parry Labs is a small defense contractor specializing in edge computing for military drones, tactical software platforms and ground-based radio signal jamming devices,” he explained.

During his internship, he primarily worked on the DEFENDER Tactical Electronic Jamming device, trying to figure out how to prevent water from damaging the electronics due to environmental factors. Part of the difficulty was making sure that any solution the team came up with was effective while realistic in production time and cost.

“Keeping a feedback loop open between quality and production cells will go a long way and prevent a lot of headaches in the future. The solution that the small team and I worked on was repeatable and effective and passed the tests we put it through by the time I left the company at the end of the summer,” he said. “I like to think that DEFENDER is out there somewhere, keeping American warfighters a bit safer.”

The Journey to SpaceX

SpaceX first caught Ian’s attention with the Falcon Heavy demo flight in 2018. “I remember seeing the side boosters return and land almost in unison and thought to myself, ‘Who else is doing this?’” he shared. “Orbital rockets that land themselves? How about reusing them five times? 10 times? 25?”

“How cool would it be to be able to use a spacecraft for passengers and cargo as commonly and as rapidly as we use aircraft? It’s the ‘larger than myself’ sort of thing that piqued my interest in this field in the first place,” he explained.

However, Ian’s love for the innovation and ambition at SpaceX wasn’t enough to land him the position. “Through ERPL, Parry Labs, personal projects and other extracurriculars, I’ve become well-versed in industry knowledge and hard skills that I think SpaceX was looking for,” he shared.

“Extreme ownership is a valuable credential to have in this game. Taking responsibility for all aspects of a complex project from top to bottom is the golden ticket, and I made sure to hammer that home in my interview process.”

Living the Dream

Ian’s first SpaceX internship was completed during the 2025 spring semester, where he worked on the Dragon Fluids Operation team.

“One of the coolest parts of my job was training to become a qualified ground controller, controlling the vehicle and ground systems during checkout load and offload ops,” he explained. “My overarching main project over the spring was a hardware-related upgrade to the ground support equipment.”

After the internship, Ian wanted more. Coming back to SpaceX during the summer of 2025, Ian transitioned to the Starship Thermal Hardware program and is helping develop heat shield technology for reusable spacecraft.

“A ship reentering atmosphere must endure temperatures potentially up to thousands of degrees. In addition to developing a heat shield capable of withstanding that, the solution has to be reusable,” he said.

“Try making over 10,000 of these individual tiles for one ship. If Starship is to be reused like an aircraft, hundreds or even thousands of ships must be produced,” he explained. “Overall, I’m very satisfied knowing that the projects I’m working on will have a noticeable impact.”

“The road to Mars is over 100 million miles, but perhaps a few miles shorter because of my contributions to the team."

A Look to the Future

Ian’s ambitions lie far beyond SpaceX. For one, he hopes that he may one day return to academics — even if it won’t be easy.

“It’s been a long intention of mine to obtain an advanced degree in materials engineering, but life comes at you fast and things change all the time. I never expected to find a ‘dream job’ like the one I have at SpaceX so early in my professional career, but being here has me thinking that I don’t want to be anywhere else,” he shared.

“I am still considering graduate school, as it could be useful to the aerospace industry in their quest for a rapidly reusable mass-produced heatshield. But the biggest thing I’ve learned from my college career is that there truly is no replacement for experience. Industry is the best way to get hands on with the things you love, giving you the opportunity to fail and learn fast,” he said.

“With that being said, in the real world, education is a valuable long-term asset, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel very conflicted,” he said. “I have no better home than Embry‑Riddle and no better career than aerospace. I owe my success both directly to my school and to the friends I’ve made there.”

Embry‑Riddle is cheering him on — and we can’t wait to see where he will go and what he will do next.