UVI Graduate Lands Work with Space Station Contractor

As they strive for academic success, students are sometimes urged to reach for the stars. For one St. Thomas college graduate, the aspiration is now in his hands.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ruel Mitchell began his first day on the job, working for an affiliate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For more than 20 years, Florida-based Jacobs Technology has held the contract to test components and provide operations support for the International Space Station. In an interview given shortly after he was hired, Mitchell said he will be working with launch systems, environment control, and life support systems as a mechanical engineer.

Instructors and research project leaders who mentored him through the University of the Virgin Islands say Mitchell’s appointment with a space industry contractor bodes well for the program he pursued through graduation and the internships and research opportunities he engaged along the way.

After graduating with a dual degree in applied mathematics from UVI and engineering from the University of South Florida in 2020, he returned to St. Thomas to work at UVI’s Etelman Observatory, home to the Virgin Islands Robotic Telescope. When the term of his research project wound down, Mitchell said he wanted to pursue a career in the space industry.