Walk into almost any tech or engineering company in Santa Barbara County and you are likely to find a Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA)
alumnus on the payroll.
With almost 85 percent of DPEA grads majoring in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) fields in college, it’s not unusual the Santa Barbara region’s technology and engineering workforce includes a significant number of DPEA alumni.
At Orbital ATK in Goleta, four DPEA alumni can be found manufacturing and testing sophisticated aerospace equipment, some of which is used for NASA Resupply Missions to the International Space Station.
Under the management of Robby Nielson (DPEA 2007), alumni Shen Meinhold, Nathan Alvarez and Jacob Venzor work on Orbital ATK’s deployable masts, booms, solar arrays and robotic assemblies, designed and manufactured for use in space.
According to Nielson, Orbital ATK has had great success hiring DPEA alumni because they come to the job with strong problem-solving skills. Jacob Venzor (DPEA 2006) is a manufacturing engineer working on in-space robotic assemblies and next generation-solar array programs.
Shen Meinhold (DPEA 2012), also a manufacturing engineer, is working on Orbital ATK’s new Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV). MEVs are capable of docking with existing satellites to provide the propulsion and altitude control needed to extend their useful lives.
Of his time at DPEA, Meinhold said: “My experience in the robotics program at DPEA was a unique opportunity to watch the application of engineering and physics concepts to a challenging, dynamic project.
“It helped reinforce the value of collaboration and communication as necessary skills to go along with technical ability.”
Nathan Alvarez (DPEA 2016) just finished his first paid internship at Orbital ATK this summer. He said he credits DPEA for the skills he brought to the job.
“I applied skills I learned at the DPEA to my work every single day. I felt comfortable building and testing every project assigned to me because I had relevant prototyping experience in the DPEA,” he said.
”Additionally, I constantly ran into problems, and rather than getting flustered or giving up, I thought about them analytically and resisted the urge to jump to conclusions or quick solutions — a critical skill that the DPEA instilled in me years ago.”
Alvarez is set to return to Los Angeles to start his sophomore year at USC where he is majoring in mechanical engineering.
Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy is a four-year program at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta. Since its establishment in 2002, DPEA has grown in vision and impact while serving as an evolving model for innovation and entrepreneurialism in education.
DPEA graduates 100 students per year and has a summer internship program for juniors and seniors. For more information about Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, visit www.dpengineering.org or email Becca Summers at becca@dpengineering.org.
— Rebecca Summers for Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy.