ON HIS WAY—Kevin Jordan, 17, is viewed as a colleague by senior engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Newbury Park resident is a student at the High School at Moorpark College, and he interned at the Mars Science Laboratory for two summers. He was also hired by JPL last fall. A young man from Newbury Park could one day work on a spaceship destined for another world, considering what he’s already achieved in the aerospace industry and through his internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Kevin Jordan, 17, a senior at the High School at Moorpark College, worked at JPL in Pasadena during the summers of 2008 and 2009.

His proficiency in electrical engineering led to a part-time paid position at the laboratory last fall, and he’s been working at the lab every Friday since then.

“At JPL, I have the resources to do massive things,” Kevin said.

As a NASA spaceship program apprentice over the last two summers, Kevin worked on field test activities in support of the Mars Science Laboratory, programming electrical systems and completing general engineering tasks.

“I really like to be involved in the space program because it’s not only interesting and challenging, but it’s the leading edge of engineering since it takes a lot to be able to sustain people in space,” the teenager said.

Space exploration sets precedents for the development of new technology, he said.

“If you look back to what got us on the moon, that technology is used every day now.”

While NASA is about to retire its first fleet of space shuttles, Kevin says America must develop new systems to launch humans into outer space to learn more about Earth and explore other planets.

Joey Brown, an entry, descent and landing systems engineer at the JPL center for robotic exploration of the solar system, said he’s seen Kevin’s proficiency in engineering principles demonstrated over and over again.

“I can assure you that he has a job lined up for him once he graduates college,” Brown said.

Within weeks of the start of his first internship, Kevin had not only simplified the design of ground support equipment, but he also managed to solve complex technical problems that a team of 15 experienced engineers could not, Brown wrote in a letter of recommendation for the young man.

Moreover, Kevin singlehandedly assembled, configured, set up and wrote the software for a complex unit that would be used for articulating an antenna onboard an F/A-18 aircraft.

“What was planned as a fourmonth task for a senior engineer was accomplished in merely two weeks by Kevin,” Brown said, adding that he and his colleagues think Kevin is the most talented intern they’ve worked with.

Kevin became interested in electrical engineering when he was in elementary school and helped his father build a custom turbo system for small private airplane.

At age 12 and a student at Sequoia Middle School, Kevin began assembling computer networks for his father’s dental office in Newbury Park.

In the summers of 2006 and 2007, Kevin worked at Edutech Group building carts containing 20 laptop computers for use in schools.

He networked the hard drives and wired the cart so it would need only a single cable to plug in and charge all the laptops.

In his first year at Newbury Park High, Kevin designed and built an apparatus to measure the speed of light.

“The special project included equipment that has never been built before,” he said.

A member of the Newbury Park High School Robotics Club since 2007, Kevin also competed with the Conejo Robotics team, which is made up of students from Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake high schools.

He transferred to the High School at Moorpark College last fall not only to take college classes but also to work at JPL on Fridays, which was possible as a student at the Moorpark school.

Although the curriculum at his new school is more difficult, Kevin said, he finds it easier to complete assignments because he’s allowed to integrate engineering subjects into most English and social studies lessons.

“I can write for hours about that,” he said.

After graduating from high school this month, Kevin plans to spend his summer learning at JPL.

“I really enjoy it, and I’ve been able to improve myself,” he said.

Kevin will attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., in the fall to earn a degree in electrical engineering.