Eric Ward, a graduate student at MIT, has always wanted to work in the aerospace industry. "It's a field full of people who are both very passionate about space and also excited about tackling very hard problems," he says.
After earning a degree in mechanical engineering, Ward landed coveted internships at NASA and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, expecting that he would spend his entire career at a big, established space company. But over the last decade, he's watched a new generation of companies like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX enter the space game.
Image: Flickr user NASA, Bill Ingalls
