October Featured Alum of the Month: Roderic Vanderscoff

What do you do in your job? What is your work like?

 I am a propulsion engineer in the space industry. In my current role, I manage the technical development for various chemical propulsion systems ranging from small monopropellant thrusters for use on spacecraft to large rocket engines to power launch vehicles into space. My job is to help guide these propulsion systems through development and qualification, so I get to work on the full product life cycle including design, analysis, manufacturing, and testing. Each day is different, which is something I enjoy! This can vary from doing back-of-the-envelope calculations, reviewing the analysis report from a colleague, conducting an engine hot fire, or collaborating with colleagues to reprioritize tasks to meet our deadlines. 

How did your UC Davis education prepare you for this work? 

One of the most important parts of my time at UC Davis was learning to collaborate with students and professors. Whether it was working on a group project with other students or writing my thesis with my professor, building these skills to communicate complex ideas to others and work as a team proved to be crucial in every aspect of my career. Additionally, my physics classes taught me to be comfortable with the unknown, and figure out a process for how I can continue learning. My career requires me to constantly be exposed to new concepts - on everything from fluid mechanics, tribology, or coding in various languages - and physics gave me tools that I can apply to learn new topics. Every new job requires learning, so I’m glad for how UC Davis taught me to approach the unknown and continue building on my skillset. 

Are there opportunities our current students could pursue, which you found helpful for advancing your career? Or do you have any other advice for undergraduates in our program? 

UC Davis has a lot to offer beyond your core courses, and I really enjoyed taking advantage of that as much as I could. I knew I wanted to work with hardware, so I signed up for classes on topics like welding and machining. But I also took some other classes that helped me figure out what direction I didn’t want to go in my career - and I’m happy for those experiences too! I would also recommend to take any opportunity you can to talk to people in the field(s) you are interested in. Ask your professors, look into the alumni network, or reach out to people on LinkedIn. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do after college, I didn’t know all the right questions to ask, but taking the time to talk with people and hear about their experiences helped me figure out what I wanted to do next.