Jeremias Arias
NCAS Student Challenge Career Portfolio
Executive Summary
My ultimate career goal is to go to California State University here in Los Angeles and get my bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. Currently, I will be taking some hands-on classes at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College to complete that goal. The major aligned with this career path is the one I am taking right now, Electrical Construction and Maintenance. The reason I am taking the full associate degree at this college is that I want to have enough real-world examples of electrical flow, so whenever I go to CSU, I can be prepared to understand real-world systems, install and troubleshoot equipment, and do maintenance on them.
Once I am finished with the Associate Degree at LATTC and the required classes, I can transfer to a California State University. All of this fits with NASA because, after a long time of preparation and finishing my engineering major, I would like to use my Electrical Engineering skills in a proper environment involving RF communications, electronics in embedded systems, waveforms, or satellites.
So for now, while being in NCAS I want to familiarize myself with how these systems are used on a larger scale while inside in aerospace and different technical fields.
Career Direction
Electrical Engineering for aerospace and other technical systems.
I want a broad technical foundation that can transfer between aerospace, civilian industry, and other technical environments rather than locking me into one narrow specialty.
Technical Skills
- SSH into remote machines or machines on a local subnet
- Inspect packets via Wireshark
- Set up a DNS server and DHCP
- Security testing across a subnet
- Scan and identify devices
- Run virtual machines
- Run a cluster of machines
- Run a Linux operating system
- Firewall with UFW or iptables
- Use WireGuard to maintain security
Selected Experiences
01Secure Remote Network Access
Experience
The strongest technical thing that I did was run a relay from a Debian VPS using WireGuard and set up firewall rules to limit remote access to my private machines. I used SSH over WireGuard and an Android Pixel running Termux without root access to send Wake-on-LAN packets. I verified that I could wake my home computer from my Chromebook while the Chromebook was outside my home network. I measured end-to-end latency in a separate Chromebook test using an iPhone hotspot and saw that it averaged about 49 ms but reached about 346 ms, with 1 packet lost out of 98.
NASA Career Alignment
My interest in NASA and aerospace is mainly because of the electronic side and RF communication. Being able to see communication between machines and test remote access fits with my future career.
02Router Network System
Experience
I made a router out of an old $90 machine and configured it to contain a firewall, DHCP, DNS, rerouting, a NAT layer, and control of a subnet. While doing all that, I protected the WAN side from being scanned by bot scanners from the internet, left a different topology for the LAN, and maintained sanitization...
NASA Career Alignment
I want to better understand how technical skills like electrical systems, networking, troubleshooting, and technology are used in aerospace and at NASA.
03Shultz Steel
Experience
Now physically, I have worked in an industrial place before at Shultz Steel. It was an aerospace company that built parts for many things. I was a part of a team that maintained a clean environment underneath the ton press. I made sure to inspect and see that there was no problem with the ton press hydraulic machines that were helping lubricate the ton press machine...
From personal observation, they told us to let them know if we noticed anomalies in the hydraulic machines. If so, report what happened...
NASA Career Alignment
I want them to see that I can understand C++, physics, and PLC and to understand that I came from an actual electrical trade school. I learn through hands-on work and troubleshooting. Not only can I touch the electronic layer, but I can also see the electrical layer going through walls as I map out routes.
Resume
JEREMIAS ARIAS
Los Angeles, CA
Education
Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
Electrical Construction & Maintenance
Associate Degree In Progress
Started June 2026
Planned transfer: B.S. Electrical Engineering
International Studies and World Languages Virtual Academy
High School Diploma
June 2026
NASA / Program Experience
NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS)
Student Challenge Participant
Fall 2026
Relevant Coursework
- CIS 210 Completed
- CIS 215 Network Security Fundamentals In Progress
- IT 165 / MICROTK 165 Linux In Progress
Technical Projects
Secure Remote Network Access
- Ran a WireGuard relay on a Debian VPS and configured firewall rules for secure remote access to my home machines.
Router / Network System
- Built a router using an older $90 computer and configured its firewall, DHCP, DNS, routing, NAT, and subnet controls.
Work Experience
Shultz Steel LLC
Clean Up Technician
August 2026
- Maintained clean work areas beneath industrial presses (40K, 6K, 28K, and 1.5K) and near furnaces while following required PPE and safety procedures.
- Removed debris, organized materials, and checked for visible hydraulic-system issues to report to supervisors and support production crews.
- Completed forklift and man-lift training and practiced operating both while following workplace safety and hazard-awareness procedures.
Technical Skills
Linux SSH / Remote Administration TCP/IP Networking Wireshark DNS / DHCP WireGuard UFW / iptables Routing / NAT Network Security Testing Virtual Machines
References
- NASA SLS (Space Launch System) Avionics: The 'Brains' of SLS
- NASA Careers in Engineering
- O*NET OnLine Electrical Engineers 17-2071.00
- Shultz Steel Aerospace
Thank you for whoever is reading this and taking your time to come see my website or my submission.
"In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”
