Jeff Ellenoff '12 makes decisions every day that defy the forces of gravity. He is—quite literally—pushing the boundaries of what is possible because most of what he works on has never been done before.

Jeff works at SpaceX, a private aerospace company that designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets, spacecraft and satellites. The company was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk and strives to provide the safest, most reliable and most economical access to space—with the goal of making human life multi-planetary.

Jeff studied aerospace engineering at CU Boulder. He credits longtime former Kent Denver math teacher Mindy Adair with giving him crucial advice that set him on his current path. He had initially been considering some so-called ‘bigger name’ programs before Ms. Adair urged him to strongly consider CU Boulder, which would save him significant cost without compromising on reputation, as it is one of the top 10 aerospace programs in the country. This turned out to be worthwhile advice, and Jeff started to soar. He applied for an internship with SpaceX during his junior year, and SpaceX responded quickly, asking if he could start in three days. The compromise was starting 10 days later, which turned into a nine-month internship at the SpaceX rocket development facility in Texas. Not yet graduated from college, Jeff found himself working on the team that was attempting to reuse a private spaceship for the first time.

In addition to the excitement and intrigue that comes with sending rockets into space, SpaceX’s focus on reusability and rapid iteration was a strong draw for Jeff. He was never interested in doing something ordinary—something that did not have the potential for great impact. 

"My parents quit their jobs in their 30s to travel around the world for 18 months," explains Jeff. "I grew up hearing their stories, cherishing my National Geographic subscription and staring at the night sky, thinking of the thousands of galaxies depicted in the Hubble deep field image—knowing there was an entire world here and countless worlds out there waiting to be explored—worlds with innumerable adventures, untold stories and unsolved mysteries."

Jeff interned for SpaceX again after his senior year before receiving a full-time offer to work as the responsible engineer for the Dragon I spacecraft. He then moved on to become the lead engineer for the Dragon 2 spacecraft and served as the deputy program manager responsible for Crew and Cargo Dragon spacecraft refurbishment. He currently works as a Starlink Enterprise Account Manager, managing a portfolio of enterprise customers throughout the world and coordinating across internal teams to accelerate the global rollout of Starlink business operations. 

Jeff loves working on revolutionary technology that has the potential to do good in the world. He feels fulfilled by his "belief that the work we (the company) are doing is genuinely important, can improve access to opportunities for billions of people and impacts not only who we are but shows who we can be."

He has been interested in space since he was 12 years old and derives energy from how inspirational the space program can be to young and old alike. Having the opportunity to work on the SpaceX team, he says, is truly a dream come true. In his current work on Starlink, he finds it rewarding in a different—but equally meaningful—way. 

"To be able to do that with our team for a company I love and believe in, and which has taught me so much over the years, means the world to me."

That does not mean that every day is not immensely challenging. Jeff says one of his greatest battles is being able to shut things off while he is not at work. He explains that the problems to solve can seem endless and that it can feel especially daunting when the work is so cutting edge.

"Anytime you’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done before, you’re fighting the precedent of people’s expectations of what they know about reality, whether that’s merited or not," says Jeff. "Landing a rocket is a good example. People said it couldn't be done, and now it’s been done 328 times."

It is hard work to defy people’s expectations, a skill he says he first learned at Kent Denver. There, he recognized that a mold had been set out before him. But it was also the first time he realized that the mold might not fit, and that’s okay. "The magic of becoming your own person and adult, and of maximizing your potential happens when you’re out of your comfort zone," explains Jeff, who says his ‘phenomenal’ Kent Denver education laid the foundation for critical time management skills he now uses on a daily basis. "You have to know who you are and what you’re about, and how you get there is a journey. There are certain times when you just have to sit down and grind out work because it has to get done."

Jeff also points out how important learning to fail has been—especially when seeking to be on the cutting edge. It’s inevitable. His time at SpaceX has helped shape the way he approaches failure. "Many people are afraid to fail, but failure is not necessarily a bad thing and may be needed to help you learn quickly and achieve your end goal sooner."

Jeff points to a—perhaps surprising—anecdote from his time at Kent Denver as a transformative experience in learning this lesson. It’s hard to believe that a rocket engineer might have struggled in math, but it’s true! Jeff failed his first weeks of Algebra II Honors and moved to the non-honors level class. He remembers feeling ashamed, embarrassed and like "a complete failure"—made more acute by the fact that his brother had gone through honors math. But the experience ended up being a major positive.

"Moving to a different class was the best thing that happened to me," Jeff recalls now. "I received the level of instruction I needed (thanks to Mindy Adair), which helped me establish strong foundational math skills. These were crucial to my aerospace engineering degree and career at SpaceX."

He went on to receive the Calculus award his senior year, which was perhaps one harbinger of the many successes to come.

At Kent Denver, Jeff began spending dedicated time reflecting on who he was and what was important to him. Defining those values helped set forward his path, which proved especially critical when the path led into unknown territory. 

He hopes this story might encourage other students to "be interested and interesting," a philosophy he learned from his dad. He credits many Kent Denver teachers (Mindy Adair, Chris Cox, Ginna Halverson, Craig Petersen, Priscilla Scobie, Eric Dawson and Katie Thomas, to name a few) who "encouraged my individuality despite the headaches it no doubt caused them.

"People’s personalities and the unique approach they bring to problem-solving can be some of their most valuable assets. But to make those a superpower, you need to know yourself–who you are and what you’re about," says Jeff. "Some people know that sooner than others. In truth, I don’t think I could answer that in a meaningful way until I was 24 or 25. The reality is that each person is different, and what one person needs may not be necessary for another. In reality, my biggest regret from the past 11 years is that I did not take a gap year after high school to do something completely different than anything I had done in life up to that point—like become a salmon fisherman in Alaska or travel or volunteer abroad. 

"There is a finite window in your life when you have the freedom to do virtually anything at any time, and it seems silly not to utilize that period for fear that ‘colleges won’t like it.’ Colleges like well-rounded individuals, and if a gap-year with a purpose will make you more well-rounded, that seems worthwhile."

Jeff continues to keep Kent Denver close. Stay tuned for the next mission he is working on, and thank you to Jeff for bringing us along for the ride!

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Addendum: 

Jeff was recently invited to participate in a three-week, 2,300-mile sailing expedition from the Galapagos to Easter Island. The voyage was part of the Darwin200 program, which retraces the path taken by Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Jeff was connected to this once in a lifetime opportunity through the Explorers Club, one of the program’s sponsors.

Jeff spent two weeks of June at sea on the Oosterschelde, a three-masted, 50-meter Dutch sail ship built in 1917. It involved eight to 12 hours of sailing per day—perfect for a first-time sailer! He was put to work, rotating in on the four-hour shift cycle and getting to experience 20 foot swells, in which the ship pitched side-to-side from 45 degrees at port to 35 degrees at starboard every 30 seconds…for two days! He describes it as an eye-opening experience that he’s incredibly grateful for, but he might not be back on a sailboat for a bit!