An interview with a graduate: Anshuk Chigullapalli, BS '23

Anshuk Chigullapalli is from Hyderabad, Telangana, India. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in May 2023. He will attend Stanford for graduate school and during the summer work at SpaceX as an associate engineer on their guidance, navigation and control team. 

Why did you choose to study at UIUC?

I knew it was a good aerospace school, and that’s what I wanted to do. In the end, it was a choice between staying in India and coming all the way to the U.S. for my undergraduate degree. Looking back at my four years here, coming to UIUC was absolutely the right decision.

Why aerospace engineering?

Lots of reasons influenced my choice of major, but a big one was the Falcon Heavy Test launch in 2018. When I saw those boosters land, I realized the immense power and control ability that rockets have. I loved math, physics, and challenging problems in high school. That rocket launch showed me that aerospace engineering had all that, but it was also tangible and real. It was the most appealing combination for me.

What course/professor/other helped you choose your specialty?

Watching SpaceX land rockets is what got me interested in guidance, navigation and control. It’s such a fascinating problem to control aerospace vehicles. Making a GNC project real requires using math, physics, software, electrical hardware and mechanical systems. How many other projects challenge you with those many disciplines? And the result feels like magic. Professor Bretl’s classes in controls (AE 353 and AE 483) further pushed my interest in this, because I got to just have fun playing with simulations and drones.

What projects have you worked on that stand out? 

Oh, so many. And I need to give Illinois Space Society a shout-out for this, because most of the memorable projects are with the society. One of my favorites was building an avionics bay for our high-powered rocket. We called it TARS Mk-2 (the first one didn’t last long). Through building it, I not only got significantly better at leading a team, but I also developed my technical skills in GNC, software and understanding avionics system architectures. Being a part of the NASA Micro-g NExT project was another highlight, where the astronaut tool we developed was tested at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

Describe something from your years at Illinois that you are particularly proud of.
What I’m most proud of is pursuing my interests beyond schoolwork and courses. My senior year, I tried building a flying inverted pendulum: a drone that is capable of balancing a stick on top of itself. This is a very difficult problem, and I didn’t even know if it was possible on the drone that I was using. Yet, I registered this as an Engineering Open House exhibit. As I spent the week before EOH pulling all-nighters to improve the drone system, a part of me questioned why I was doing this. But then I remembered how cool it would be to get it working, and to teach the kids at EOH about rockets and drones. That kept me going. I’m proud of the fact that I let my goals guide me towards the path where I learned the most. The drone didn’t work in time, but we still presented and showcased all our work, and managed to win three awards!

Did you have any internships or study abroad experiences? Where? What did you do?
I’ve had three internships, one during every summer of college.

• • • The first was at Skyroot Aerospace, an up-and-coming aerospace startup in Hyderabad, my hometown. I worked with the GNC team to develop a simulation visualization for their rocket flight data.
    • The second was at Collins Aerospace as a Systems/Software Integration intern in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I worked on a python network simulation that emulated the real hardware’s network so engineers could test their software in the environment.
    • The third was at SpaceX as a Flight Software Intern in Hawthorne, California. This was my favorite internship. I got to directly work on the software that runs on-board Starship, such as logic that determined engine ignitions, checked abort statuses, and estimated the rocket’s position. I also got to see a lot of rockets and meet a lot of incredible people. Here, I was able to network and eventually land my dream job of being a SpaceX GNC engineer.

What extracurricular experience stands out as memorable for you?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, being a leader in ISS was easily one of the most memorable parts of my college experiences. Not only did I get to work on stuff that I love, but I got to do it with my favorite people. It made every day a different experience with new problems to solve. Making an impact on the educational experience and the career path of many underclassmen was extremely rewarding.

With ISS, I went to many rocket test launches, and a competition launch in New Mexico. When we had a rocket work, we rejoiced and celebrated. When it didn’t, we worked on understanding what went wrong and fixed it on the next go. I will never forget those days.

What will you be doing after graduation?
I’m going to graduate school at Stanford to continue a concentration in GNC. During the summer, I will also be working at SpaceX as an associate engineer on their Starship GNC team, working on improving the experimental rocket’s landing capabilities.

How did you decide what to do after graduation? 

For the longest time, I thought I would go straight to industry. But I finally decided to go to graduate school when folks at SpaceX recommended that developing my conceptual background in GNC further would be crucial for working full time in a GNC role. So, I decided to instead get a master’s degree. But I do plan on going back to industry after I complete my graduate degree.

Do you have other career goals?
My first goal for the next few years is simple: I want to play a significant role in landing humans on Mars. I hope to be with SpaceX for long enough to achieve that. After that, I want to head back home to India and join the aerospace industry there. I’ve seen a lot of new startups coming up in India, and I want to help them succeed.

What’s on your bucket list of must-dos for the next 5 years?

I plan on staying pretty career-focused for the next five years. But I also just want to explore the country when I can. I also want to regularly visit home back in India, and help my sister along with her journey through college.

What advice would you like to share with AE undergrads?
Get involved! Go beyond your classes. If you’re passionate about something in engineering, college is the best place to explore it because those resources are within arm’s reach. Join ISS, or Design Build Fly, or the Formula teams, etc. Work with real teams, build real projects, go beyond theory. Because at an undergraduate level, that’s where you reach the point that there are no right answers and become independent in your ability to learn. Going out of your comfort zone to work with new teams and new people is incredibly valuable. No matter where you want to work on, getting that engineering experience is invaluable. You’re at UIUC, there are immense resources all around you! So, work hard, play hard, and you’ll do great.