Online Education Translates to Real-Life Wins for Carlon Oliver

From Foundations to Expertise

Carlon Oliver (26’,’28) went back to school with a mission to build a foundational engineering education that would help him break into the aerospace engineering field. Without leaving his life in Colorado, Carlon enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide & Online Campus to make his dreams a reality.

“I was looking for a university that offered an online program with an interesting and challenging curriculum,” he said. “I wanted a program that would not only prepare me to pursue a master’s degree but also give me the engineering knowledge and practical skills needed to work in the aerospace industry.”

Carlon wanted to craft his education intentionally, so he started in the Engineering Fundamentals associate program. He paid attention to the curriculum he enjoyed most and believed would align him with aerospace career opportunities.

“That experience helped me determine which areas of engineering interested me the most and where I wanted to take my education next,” he said. “I chose Mechanical Engineering because I wanted a discipline that would prepare me well for eventually pursuing a graduate degree in Aerospace Engineering.”

Progressing to the online Mechanical Engineering bachelor’s program also gave Carlon the opportunity to study robotics and mechanical systems in greater depth. These studies further inspired his off-campus passion projects and entrepreneurial ventures while giving him more insight into the future of technology.

“Robotics is something I am very interested in because I believe the future of space exploration will rely heavily on robotic, remotely controlled and autonomous systems,” he explained.

Building an In-Home Business

From his home, Carlon founded RoboLab LLC to enhance STEM education for primary school students. He is developing classroom-friendly robotics project kits that will give students an opportunity to work with engineering systems and dream about space exploration from an early age.

“When I was younger, I did not have much exposure to strong STEM programs that encouraged my curiosity about science, engineering and space exploration,” he said. “My main goal is to develop affordable and effective robotics projects that allow students to learn engineering design, programming, building and testing through hands-on experience.”

RoboLab has also been an avenue for Carlon to manage projects and build engineering expertise outside of internships and class projects. The flexibility of online classes has allowed him to work on classroom lessons and new skills in this venture in real time.

“Starting RoboLab has given me the opportunity to design, build, program, test and troubleshoot real systems while I am still in school,” he said. “It gives me a chance to learn about product development, manufacturing, costs, marketing and the business side of engineering as I go.”

He hopes to continue expanding educational resources and diversifying his project offerings so that students have access to increasingly complex projects that nurture their interests and prepare them for their future careers.

Taking Projects Offline to a NASA Competition

Carlon has also engaged in digital, on-campus engineering projects. In collaboration with five other Embry-Riddle Worldwide students, he developed a lunar-surface power technology prototype, named Project AUREVO, for NASA’s 2026 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. As a Mechanical Engineering student with a diverse engineering background, Carlon brought a unique and innovative perspective to the project.

“Thinking outside of the box was extremely important in a competition like RASC-AL,” he said. “We had to take existing technologies and engineering principles and determine how they could be combined in a new way to solve a difficult problem.”

He also brought a variety of systems engineering knowledge from his courses to the project, giving the team a strategic advantage.

“Having a broad engineering background helped me look beyond individual components and understand how they affected the overall architecture,” he explained.

Carlon reflected that one of Project AUREVO’s greatest assets was their team chemistry, given that they had only worked together remotely for months before arriving at the competition. By competition day, they had mastered how to collaborate effectively and defer to one another’s expertise to develop and showcase the best possible project.

“We felt a sense of relief and confidence as it became clear that everyone knew the project and understood their role,” he said. “We had gone from video calls, calculations, CAD models and building prototypes to actually standing together preparing to present our work to NASA engineers.”

Their dedication paid off — Project AUREVO took home the “Most Innovative Idea” and “Best Prototype” awards. Seeing the project through from a draft on paper to a tangible system proved rewarding for Carlon.

“It showed me that the engineering skills I am developing in school can be applied to real problems related to future space exploration,” he said.

Preparing for the Future of Space

After completing his bachelor’s degree, Carlon plans to transition into an Aerospace Engineering master’s program and later a Ph.D. in a related field. He aspires not only to work with space systems in the aerospace industry but to shape the future of space exploration.

In the meantime, he wants to take RoboLab and Project AUREVO to the next stage and continue excelling in his engineering classes. The thrill of invention, innovation and competition continues to inspire him to achieve more than what he had originally planned.

“What started as a goal of earning an engineering degree has grown into opportunities to participate in projects like RASC-AL, develop my own robotics company, build and test engineering prototypes and work toward contributing to the aerospace industry,” he said. “My experience at Embry-Riddle has helped me discover areas of engineering that I may not have otherwise explored, and it has continued to expand what I believe I can accomplish.”