Two engineering students have been awarded prestigious New Zealand Space Scholarships that will see them interning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for three months.
Two University of Auckland engineering students are among seven recipients of the 2026 New Zealand Space Scholarship.
Kyja McCabe, from the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering, and Thomas Phillips, from Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, will spend three months interning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
At JPL, McCabe will be helping to develop next-generation electronics to enable power distribution on interplanetary surfaces - essential, he says, when humanity decides to develop permanent bases on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
"Aotearoa is my favourite place on the planet, so to be able to go learn at an institution like JPL and to hopefully apply that knowledge to progressing the aerospace industry at home is an unreal opportunity," he says.
Phillips, who is completing a Master of Aerospace Engineering, will contribute to JPL's Ultra-Compact Imaging Spectrometer for the Moon (UCIS-Moon) project.
"I'll be working on the cryogenic rotational stage of a testing platform. The platform is essentially used to test components at extremely low temperatures and vacuum conditions, like those in space," explains Phillips.
"I will be involved in testing and analysing sub-system components of the platform to find where improvements can be made, and then using computer aided design software to design those improvements."
The pair will work alongside scientists and engineers who are part of active space missions and gain hands-on experience in their fields of study.
Phillips says the space scholarship is a dream come true.
"I couldn't believe it when I found out I was one of the recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship, and to be honest, it still feels surreal.
"This is the kind of thing you dream about when you're a little kid. I didn't think it would be possible coming from New Zealand, and yet here I am."
Phillips and McCabe were awarded their scholarships by Space Minister Hon Chris Penk at a ceremony in Wellington on 18 June.
They were joined by recipients from Victoria University of Wellington: Alexander Wiseman, Angela Xue, Laura Doyle and Zhen Hong Chai; and from Auckland University of Technology: Laura Franssen.
"The Space Scholarship presents a career-defining opportunity for these talented young New Zealanders who are set to spend three months at JPL working alongside scientists and engineers on real-world missions," Minister Penk said at the ceremony.
"As part of their work, they will be contributing to cutting-edge space technology projects and gain experience right at the forefront of global space innovation."
McCabe and Phillips departed for the US on 20 June.
