Student Spotlight: Zak Staub
Zak Staub became inspired to study mechanical and aerospace science and engineering, but AvenueE transformed his UC Davis experience and helped him prepare to graduate this spring, 2023.
“AvenueE has been a great experience for me as a transfer student at Davis. It has been a program with a great group of people who have provided wonderful resources and support, allowing me to be succeed at Davis. It has prepared me for the career fairs where I was able to land my internship with the Airforce.”
Staub transferred from Folsom Lake College and became drawn to engineering after taking a manufacturing engineering elective course in high school. The experience was invaluable as he gained hands-on experience with CAD and CAM design software, working with welders, plasma tables, CNC, automatic and manual mills and lathes, foundry, and more.
“Combining this with interest in Science Fiction shows and technology, engineering just made sense.”
Zak participated in UC Davis's Virtual Career Fair, which lead to his selection to participate in the 2022 Summer Premiere College Internship Program for the Civilian Service of the US Air Force. He participated in the 771st Electronic Warfare (EW) squadron at Edwards Airforce Base in Southern California.
“As an intern, I was exposed to the day-to-day operations at the EW squadron, and I was able to get a little peak into what civilian engineers do for the Airforce. The squadron I got to work with deals primarily with flight test for all the major aircraft platforms currently in use by the Airforce and their work helps ensure the survivability of both the pilot and the aircraft in high-threat combat zones by taking advantage of the electronic domain.”
Staub mentions the obstacles and challenges he faced during his internship and how he overcome them.
“At first, it was a struggle to get started as everything was quite overwhelming on top of being in a new place and not knowing anyone. Further, I was the last intern to arrive, so I was placed into a team by myself making it even more difficult to get started and isolating. However, I was able to push through and complete the first of two modules for the program rather quickly. The first module included one of my favorite parts of the internship, flying in an F-16 flight simulator to collect real-time data! Since I worked so diligently, I was able to catch up to a team that got there a little over two weeks before me, and was reassigned to their team for the second module of the internship. After this happened, I got to know my team and the other people and engineers who work for the squadron much better. I had nothing but positive experiences with everyone and was even invited to play on the squadron softball team for the summer season! Everyone I interacted with was very welcoming and willing to help. I would encourage anyone interested in aircraft and who wants to serve their country get involved with the Airforce Civilian Service as they provide great career opportunities, benefits, and work-life balance.”
After graduation, Zak Staub plans to work full-time with the US Air Force. He shares his personal experience and advice to current and future AvenueE and engineering students.
“For anyone looking for engineering internships in general, skills I would recommend are most important to have or to work on before you start are communication, critical thinking, and diligence. Communication is important as you will most likely be working with a team. Team communication and conflict resolution are vital to ensuring your team stays on task and that you work through things that come up between members. Critical thinking must be there because you are an engineer. There will always be new problems and things to solve, and regardless of your field of engineering study, trust that you have the tools to work through the problem and use those communication skills to think through it together to a solution. And lastly, diligence in your work and all that you do. Staying on task and completing assignments in a timely manner doesn’t sound like a lot, but people will notice you for it, and it has been, in my experience, something that has opened a lot of doors to opportunities. So, stay focused and work hard! If you apply these three skills, you will crush whatever internship you go after.”