Jordan Holquist
- Principal Investigator
- Paragon Space Development Corporation
School Information
School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
College Major: Engineering
Years at College Works: 2009
Career Information
Working For: Paragon Space Development Corporation
Title: Principal Investigator
Industry: Aerospace/Aviation
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
I lead Paragon’s NASA-funded In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technology development projects related to lunar resource processing, purification, and product generation in support of sustained human missions and presence to the Moon, Mars, and beyond as a Principal Investigator (PI) and Project Manager (PM).
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?Leading a team of engineers to develop a robotic gardening system under budget and ahead of schedule for NASA.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
College Works Painting gave me my first lessons in leadership- a valuable education that I intend to use in the future, leading our nation’s space exploration program.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
My College Works Painting experience gave me confidence to lead and manage organizations and projects throughout college. From these, I gained the experience to land internships at NASA and acceptance into graduate school, where I continue to excel.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
There are many styles of leadership and management, utilize the those that fit in the given situation.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
You do not try with College Works Painting, you do. There is no other option. If you commit yourself 100% to your efforts with College Works Painting, I guarantee you will succeed. To current College Works Painting participants: if you ever doubting yourself and your abilities: stop it. Have faith and believe in yourself, you alone are the person that decides your fate.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
Being handed a check for $3,000 to start a $12,000 job in the first meeting with a prospective client.
Last words of wisdom?
Believe in yourself, and the College Works Painting internship is going to be so worth it for you!