Meet Diana Herrera, a woman who loves to code! At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Diana is an enterprise applications software engineer. Diana has been at JPL for 10 years and discovered her passion to be a JPLer as a high school student. We recently chatted with Diana, and this is what she had to say about shooting archery, Disneyland, and her favorite thing about working at JPL.
Tell us about your road to JPL. What was your path?
“High School → Summer Internship → APX → Full time”
When did you know you wanted to work at JPL?
“When I was in high school we would take trips to JPL almost every year. During our last trip, watching a video in the administration building about JPL, the people who worked at JPL and what they did here made me want to apply.
Our tour guide informed us about the upcoming open house, which I attended that weekend, and later that week I submitted my resume. Graduation day they called to inform me they would like to offer me a summer internship, which I accepted.”
What is your role?
“I maintain the coding and handle any software issues with JPL’s internal portal, which we call JPL Space. I help with the life cycle of various departments’ websites. This includes developing, managing, and operating websites for a number of sections at JPL.”
What does a typical workday look like for you?
“Nowadays the first half is development, answering emails and organizing my calendar, and the second half of the day is meetings.”
What’s your favorite part of the day-to-day?
“Lunch and coffee break!!! But seriously, during lunch I get to spend time with my friends and find out what they are working on. We sometimes also brainstorm in case one of us is having problems solving an issue.”
Who’s the most inspiring person in your life career-wise?
“All the people around me have been the ones who inspire me to do better and improve myself.”
What is your favorite thing about working for JPL?
“Learning! Working for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), there are always new ideas and new technologies that we are using. So many new things to learn.”
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from working at JPL?
“Be yourself and if you need help, ask for it. Don’t be afraid to be judged because people here are very friendly and are willing to help you learn.”
What advice would you give to aspiring software engineers about working at JPL?
“I would suggest getting an internship during high school or college. Attending the annual Explore JPL, a free ticketed event, and university career fairs and talking to JPLers there is great too. Networking is key!”
What is your favorite planet and why?
“Saturn – it’s a visually stunning planet. I’ve always loved it and wondered why its rings were visible.”
If you had one phrase to summarize yourself, what would it be?
“Adventure awaits!”
What do you like to do outside of work?
“I like to spend time with my family and friends. I love to shoot archery, go to Disneyland, participate in escape rooms, and make arts and crafts.”
What do you think is the most impactful thing you do here? And why do you do it here versus somewhere else?
“I help build and maintain websites. Usually the sites we build help people be more efficient at their job or help them find information more easily. I enjoy the people and the environment, and I’m not sure I would be able to find a similar place to work like JPL.”
Where do you hope your work will take you in 10 years?
“Hopefully, I’ll be a project lead or in a role that still keeps me close to the developers even if I am not developing as often.”
What do you find most interesting about JPL?
“I think it’s the diversity and the kindness that we have here at JPL. If you ask for help, people will always try to help you.”
What was your best day at JPL?
“There are several days that could be labeled as best days, but one of the ones I remember is when I volunteered to help with Girls Who Code. They were interested in what we did here and how we got to where we are today.”
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