On a Vaughn campus tour, this Navy veteran made a stop in the Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) room that changed his trajectory and set him on a path to the space industry.

From Navy Aviation Technician to Vaughn College Engineering Student

Ryan Kurkela ’26 always liked building things and being hands-on, but it wasn’t until he decided to follow the family tradition of military service by joining the Navy that he discovered his interest in aviation while working as an aviation support technician. Still, when he returned to civilian life, he was hesitant about college and unclear on the career path he wanted to pursue. He decided to try a semester at Suffolk Community College, where he spoke to a guidance counselor about his desire to design and build, and learned about Vaughn College for the first time.

“I read about Vaughn, came for a tour and I lucked out and met Dr. Rahemi,” said Kurkela. “He took me into the UAV room, and I was introduced to the club president and I decided right then I had to join this club. I had zero knowledge of drones, but I knew that this is where I could get the skills to design, assemble, manufacture and build.” In 2022, Kurkela started at Vaughn in mechanical engineering and immediately joined the UAV club.

Leading Vaughn’s UAV Club and Competing in National Aerospace Design Competitions

Fast-forward a year and Kurkela was all in on drones and getting exactly the kind of hands-on experience he wanted through the UAV club and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) branch. As a sophomore, he was UAV team lead on a ground station project, which was entered and presented in the Design Build Vertical Flight Competition of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), and the following year he was captain and lead designer on an AIAA competition drone—designing the fuselage structure and conducting structural analyses and simulations. The student who had known so little about drones just a few years earlier was elected president of the UAV club and AIAA branch chair, serving from February 2023 through the end of his junior year in 2025. He also joined the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers in his sophomore year and became vice president in May of 2025.

Speaking about his experiences in the clubs and the competitions, Kurkela was enthusiastic about their importance and the opportunities they offer. “Vaughn is one of the rare schools that really encourages and helps students go to conferences and competitions. In my junior year when I was president of the UAV club, we built an AIAA competition drone and the Student Experience Fund supported our whole team to go to Arizona. It was our first year being accepted to compete—and we were all so excited. It was an amazing networking opportunity with engineers from around the world, and we were so thankful and happy to represent Vaughn.”

How a Vaughn Alumnus Led Him to the NASA L’Space Academy Program

“And the competitions and conferences are just one of the ways to network in the clubs,” he continued. “A lot of alumni like to stop in and see what’s happening and they really like to help the students. In fact, that was how I learned about the NASA Summer Academy—from an alum who had done it. And that changed my life.”

Kurkela applied and was accepted into the NASA L’Space Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience (NPWEE) Academy Program for the summer of his sophomore year and had the opportunity to collaborate with 10 students to develop proposals for future NASA projects, utilizing Siemens NX software for design solutions. “Working with students from all around the country to come up with an idea to help benefit NASA missions to the moon, to Mars, for space travel,” he said, “doing that program is where my aerospace passion came from.”

Lockheed Martin Internship: Designing Mechanical Components for Aerospace Applications

He was able to pursue his newfound passion the following summer, when he secured an internship at Lockheed Martin in Huntsville, Alabama, in its space program. There he got to design mechanical components in Creo Parametric software, creating 3D models and assemblies for aerospace applications. While in Huntsville, he went to the space center and saw the Saturn V. “It’s one of the biggest rockets in history and it gave me such goosebumps. I knew in my heart I wanted to go into aerospace because it kind of defies the laws of gravity, being able to go up there. And I see my dream job in the space industry. I’m seeing the advances in space technology and how private companies are working with NASA and pushing for space exploration.”

After Graduation: Mechanical Engineer Role at Raytheon Technologies in Arizona

Asked about the job he’s accepted when he graduates this spring, Kurkela said, “I’ll be going out to Arizona when I graduate to be a mechanical engineer at Raytheon Technologies, which I’m very excited for and grateful that I’m advancing on the career path I’ve chosen. And I’m grateful to Vaughn for preparing me for my engineering future.”

Source: Vaughn Magazine, Spring 2026