Check out the different opportunities available across the United States and identify which positions you would be interested in. Work with your counselor or advisor to apply.

Apply for an internship at NASA!

Get a jump start on what you want do in college or test your interest before you get there by taking a class in engineering! Explore the different focus areas and opportunities. 

Take a class in engineering.

Take a free class in management communication from MIT's Sloan School of Management to get a jumpstart on the skills you'll need in this career.

Take an online class in management communication. 

The skills of a project manager are desirable qualities in a variety of careers & some even require certification. Do your research on various certification programs that would benefit your career. 

Get certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Becoming a certified professional engineer signals to clients that you are trustworthy and to employers that you are capable of higher responsibility. Take your engineering career to the next level and get certified!

Get certified as a professional engineer (PE). 

Search for conferences in your area or online that you could attend to learn more about green products and technologies. Network, discover career opportunities, and get inspired!

Attend a conference for green products and technologies.

Prepare to take on that leadership role by gaining valuable management tools and techniques that help improve processes within an organization.

Get Lean Six Sigma certified.

Learn about the basics of operations management by taking a class online or at your school. Discover how this skill can benefit a variety of careers. 

Take an operations management class. 

Get more confident talking to new people and thinking on your feet by making a list of 3 ways you'll put yourself in new situations: run for school office, learn a new skill, talk to someone new, etc.

Practice getting comfortable in new situations.

Dive into this overview of a popular organizational philosophy and get started on your own system to up your productivity and start getting things done!

Practice getting organized!

Learn about the "extreme green concept" and how scientist Bilal Bomani's work with plant fuels could power jets in the future.

Watch a TED Talk about innovative biofuels.

Obtain a compliance certification in order to stand out in the job market or take your current career to the next level. Check out what it takes to get started today!

Become a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP).

Pick an exercise on this list and try it out for yourself. Then try teaching a friend or family member about the concepts involved by performing the experiment for them.

Try an at home science experiment!

Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers

Define, plan, or execute biofuels/biodiesel research programs that evaluate alternative feedstock and process technologies with near-term commercial potential.

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

First Interest High-Point

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Second Interest High-Point

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Third Interest High-Point

Senior Research Scientist

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Architectural and Engineering Managers

Management Occupations

Other Management Occupations

Design or conduct applied biodiesel or biofuels research projects on topics, such as transport, thermodynamics, mixing, filtration, distillation, fermentation, extraction, and separation.

Analyze data from biofuels studies, such as fluid dynamics, water treatments, or solvent extraction and recovery processes.

Prepare, or oversee the preparation of, experimental plans for biofuels research or development.

Provide technical or scientific guidance to technical staff in the conduct of biofuels research or development.

Propose new biofuels products, processes, technologies or applications based on findings from applied biofuels or biomass research projects.

Conduct experiments on biomass or pretreatment technologies.

Prepare biofuels research and development reports for senior management or technical professionals.

Develop lab scale models of industrial scale processes, such as fermentation.

Oversee biodiesel/biofuels prototyping or development projects.

Conduct experiments to test new or alternate feedstock fermentation processes.

Develop methods to estimate the efficiency of biomass pretreatments.

Develop carbohydrates arrays and associated methods for screening enzymes involved in biomass conversion.

Perform protein functional analysis and engineering for processing of feedstock and creation of biofuels.

Conduct research to breed or develop energy crops with improved biomass yield, environmental adaptability, pest resistance, production efficiency, bioprocessing characteristics, or reduced environmental impacts.

Develop computational tools or approaches to improve biofuels research and development activities.

Develop separation processes to recover biofuels.

Design chemical conversion processes, such as etherification, esterification, interesterification, transesterification, distillation, hydrogenation, oxidation or reduction of fats and oils, and vegetable oil refining.

Design or execute solvent or product recovery experiments in laboratory or field settings.

Develop methods to recover ethanol or other fuels from complex bioreactor liquid and gas streams.

Absorption equipment

Autosamplers

Bioreactors

Biosafety cabinets

Desktop computers

Dissolved oxygen monitors

Distillation equipment

Extraction equipment

Fermentation systems

Flocculators

Flow indicators

Forced convection incubators

Gas chromatograph mass spectrometers GC-MS

Gas chromatographs GC

Gel electrophoresis equipment

Glass flasks

High pressure liquid chromatographs HPLC

Inverted compound microscopes

Laptop computers

Level indicators

Mass spectrometers

Orbital incubating shakers

Personal computers

pH indicators

Polymerase chain reaction PCR equipment

Pressure indicators

Safety glasses

Safety gloves

Spectrophotometers

Temperature probes

Top-loading autoclaves

Agilent ChemStation

Computer aided design CAD software

Email software

Fleet Asset Management and Optimization Solutions FAMOS PEPSE

GE Energy GateCycle

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Word

Web browser software

I am very proud to be from Patterson, New Jersey. There's a lot of negative news about Patterson, New Jersey. But that's where I'm from, that's where I got grounded. And I think at a very early age, I was sort of brainwashed by my father. He always said son, you're a leader, not a follower. There's another thing my mother always said. She's like son, to be successful in life, you have to master two things. Kissing butt, and kicking butt. [CROSSTALK] I said what are you talking about. She is like, as long as you have the biggest feet at the end of the day, you will be okay. My parents distilled in me, no matter what happens to you no one can take your education away. Now I took education probably to the extreme. I mean I have six college degrees, but that is probably to the extreme. So, I was always inquisitive. >> Yeah. >> But I think I didn't really shine till I got to college, and I appreciated the value of an education. >> Yeah. >> Because like I said, I was a bad kid. I wasn't at the top of my class. >> How did you go from quote bad student to very prestigious academic? >> One day I got in trouble. We were on a trip to Florida and I did some bad things. The principal picked me out, sat me on a chair. He says, no one put you on that pedestal, you did. So it's your responsibility to do something right. I think it was the teachers who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. Because most of the students around me were getting in trouble. And I said, well, I do not really want to do that. Dr. Ceeco, this is back in my high school, noticed I was a good musician. So he sat me down and he said, so you think you are good in music. I said, I know I am. And then he said, well, you are good in math? And I said, no I am not. And he said, well, in order to be good in music you have to know how to count. So then he actually started giving me geometric formulas and things like that. And he told me the more math you know, the more money you're going to make. And so I said, wait a second. He's like well, Math will be your profession and music will be your hobby. And that made perfect sense. And so, from then on, I think that led me on a straight and narrow path. There's a caveat to that because not only was I a good musician, I was a good baseball player. I had to make a decision, do I wanna pursue baseball or Math? And NASA actually was the entity who made that decision for me. I applied for internship at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and I got it. And I've been at NASA ever since. Be ready to be surprised. [NOISE] >> Wow! >> Welcome to the green lab research facility. We're doing a next generation of aviation fuel. Those are the four species of Salicornia that have the best oil content. Some of the things that we are doing have flown as biofuels on commercial airlines. >> How do you go about getting six college degrees? Why not just stop at one? >> I had an interesting problem. And that was my first degree was in math, computer science. But I went to my department chair, Professor Bragg. And I said, I still wanna learn. What should I do? And he's like, go to graduate school and I said, what's that? I told my parents, I said I think I wanna go graduate school. And they said, why, what is that? I said, I'm not done learning yet. >> So is one of you're six degrees in biology or? >> All right, now here is the funny thing, my degrees are in pure mathematics, math computer science, math education. I have a master's degree in Applied Mathematics. I have MBA in Technology Management. My PhD is in Computer Engineering specialize in Applied Physics. So where does this come in? >> Yeah, where is biology? >> Okay, now you have to hear a nerd story, sorry. But in college I didn't have a television, I had a fish tank. And so when I left college, I kept doing fish tanks. There was a meeting of the minds and that's at headquarters. And they said, well we have to think outside the box and use salt water. And so he knew that I installed tanks in NBA player's homes, NFL player's homes. They're like, can you do this? I was like let me think, yeah, I can do it. This is a hobby turns into a mad profession. I have what some people would call a dream job now. And the reason why I say that, is 95% of the things we do at NASA are failures, but we learn from them. We're trying to grow a bioplastic from this algae. And if we can do that, you can basically revolutionize the water bottle industry by making a biodegradable, truly biodegradable water bottle. >> Yeah. >> That's one of the things that we're trying to do. >> Oh. >> And we're on our way, but it's gonna take a little iteration. But very, very close to the properties of plastic in catamorpha algae. I do teach the lowest level math course at the community college. And my lab, all my own students are gonna laugh. But the first couple of days when you come into my lab, I go to you and I say, what did you break? And if they say nothing, I say bye. Go to the office. Next day I says, what did you break? Nothing, go to the office. And probably on about a week goes by, I said, what did you break? Well, the pH meter broke I was like you're hired. >> [LAUGH] >> We have to fail in order to succeed. And that's difficult because young people have fear of failure. The fact of the matter is I actually get paid to learn. The only way to learn is to fail. 

Interview

My parents instilled in me, no matter what happens to you, no one can take your education away. I took education probably to the extreme. I mean I have six college degrees but that's probably extreme so I was always inquisitive but I think I didn't really shine till I got to college. Then I appreciated the value of an education. My first degree was in math computer science but I went to my department chair, professor Brag and I said, "I still want to learn, what should I do?" And he's like, "Go to graduate school," and I said, "What's that?" I told my parents, I says, "I think I want to go to graduate school,  and they says, "Why? What is that?" I say, "I'm not done learning yet." Wow! Welcome to the green lab research facility. This is a hobbie turned into a mad profession. I have what some people would call a dream job now and the reason why I say that is, 95 percent of things we do at NASA are failures, but we learn from them. 

Bilal Bomani Highlight

Most people, scientists who work at NASA, it's like I always wanted to work at NASA. As a young lad, I was thinking about rockets and things. Not me, and I have to tell you this. I'm at NASA on a bet. And the bet was, in college there was a flyer says come work at NASA. And I remember it like it was yesterday. My buddy Dave Beasley, I said Dave, you fill out the application. He was like no, you fill it out. I was like no, you fill it out. He said, I bet you won't fill it out. No, I said, I bet you won't fill it out. So I filled it out. I'm teaching high school mathematics in Dover, Delaware and there's a call. And they say oh, come to the office. When I went to the office I say hey, it wasn't me, I wasn't there, I don't know what you're talking about. And they was like, oh, NASA's on the phone. And I used a swear word, I was like bull crap. >> Mm-hm. >> And then the lady was like, yes, this is NASA. I said, really? I said, how you doing? And she said, well, we have an opportunity for you to work at NASA, but you need to be interviewed tomorrow. And let me show you how this works full circle. Just two years ago, she asked me for a recommendation. And so that ought to show you my drive and determination. 

Opportunity

I'm At NASA On A Bet

I have what some people would call a dream job now. And the reason why I say that is, 95% of the things we do at NASA are failures but we learn from them. We're trying to grow a bioplastic from this algae. And if we can do that, you can basically revolutionize the water bottle industry. By making a bio-degradable, truly bio-degradable water bottle. That's one of the things that we're trying to do. And we're on our way, but it's gonna take a little iterations but very, very close to the properties of plastic in chaetomorpha algae. I do teach the lowest level math course at the community college, and in my lab, and all my students are gonna laugh but, the first couple days when you come to my lab I go to you and I'm like what did you break? And if they say nothing I say bye, go to the office. Next day I says, what did you break? Nothing. Go to the office. And probably about a week goes by I said, what did you break? Well the pH meter broke. I was like, you're hired! >> [LAUGH] >> We have to fail in order to succeed and that's difficult because young people have fear of failure. The fact of the matter is I actually get paid to learn. The only way to learn is to fail 

Failure

The Only Way To Learn Is To Fail

Be ready to be surprised. [SOUND] >> Wow. >> Welcome to the GreenLab Research Facility. We're doing the next generation of aviation fuel. Those are the four species of Salicornia that have the best oil content. Some of the things that we are doing have flown as biofuels on commercial airlines. >> How did you go about getting six college degrees? Why not just stop at one? >> I had an interesting problem, and that was my first degree was in math computer science. But I went to my department chair, Professor Brag, and I said I still wanna learn. What should I do? And he's like, go to graduate school. And I said, what's that? I told my parents, I said I think I want to go to graduate school and they said, why? What is that? I said, I'm not done learning yet. >> So is one of your six degrees in biology or- >> All right, now here's the funny thing. My degrees are in pure mathematics, math computer science, math education. I have a Master's degree in applied mathematics, I have a MBA in technology management and my Ph.D is in computer engineering specializing in applied physics. So where does this come in? >> Yeah, where's biology? >> Okay, now you have to hear a nerd story. Sorry, but in college I didn't have a television, I had a fish tank. And so when I left college, I kept doing fish tanks. There was a meeting of the minds at NASA headquarters. And they said well we have to think outside the box and use salt water. And so he knew that I install tanks in NBA players' homes, NFL players' homes, and he was like, can you do this? I was like, let met think, yeah I can do it. This is how a hobby turns into a mad profession. 

Education

Hobbies & Pastimes

Not Done Learning

I am very proud to be from Patterson, New Jersey. There's a lot of negative news about Patterson, New Jersey. But that's where I'm from. That's where I got grounded. And I think at an early age I was sort of brain washed by my father. He always said son you're a leader, not a follower. >> Yeah. >> There's another thing my mother always said. She was like son to be successful in life you have to master two things, kissing butt and kicking butt. >> Yeah. >> I said, what are you talking about? She's like, as long as you have the biggest feet at the end of the day, you'll be okay. My parents instilled in me, no matter what happens to you, no one can take your education away. Now I took education, probably, to the extreme. I might have six college degrees but that's probably extreme. So I was always inquisitive but I think I didn't really shine until I got to college and I appreciated the value of an education. Cuz I guess I was a bad kid, I wasn't at the top of my class. >> How did you go from a bad student to very prestigious academic? >> One day I got in trouble, we went on a trip to Florida. And I did some bad things. The principal picked me out, set me on a chair. He says, no one put you on that pedestal. You did. So it's your responsibility to do something right. I think it was the teachers who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. Because most of the students around me were getting in trouble. And I says, well I don't really want to do that. Dr. Seco, this is back at my high school, noticed I was a good musician, so he sat me down and he said, so you think you're good in music? I says I know I am. And then he said, well you're good in math. I say, oh no, no, no, no I'm not. And he said, well, in order to be good in music, you have to know how to count. So then he actually started giving me geometric formulas and things like that. And he told me the more math you know the more money you're going to make. And so, I said wait a second. He's like, well, math will be your profession and music will be your hobby. And that made perfect sense. And so from then on I think that led me on a straight and narrow path. There is a caviar to that because not only was I good musician I was a good baseball player, but I had to make a decision. Do I want to pursue baseball, or math? And NASA actually was the entity who made that decision for me. I applied for internship at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and I got it, and I have been at NASA ever since. 

Support & Encouragement

Importance of Education

I try to tell all young people that you need to learn a new language. And I said what's the language of America? And most students think it's English, but it's actually intelligence because once you gain that it's yours for life. At this point I give back by trying to convince as many young people If you want a job in the future you have to major in a STEM field. Now they're actually pushing to introduce math concepts at a early, early age. And it's a known fact that if you take algebra by the eighth grade you'll be what we call highly successful. 

Success

STEM & Success

A good thing about my background is they were always think that my city was a failure but then that's where I came from. So I've always dealt with adversity. Here, when I see on a daily basis when people fail they go ballistic. That's part of life. Learn from it and let's move on. What can you learn from that? I think we need to foster that with more young people and young people need to know it's okay to fail. Just know why you failed. It's okay to take risks as long as you know there's a positive outcome. 

Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers

Overview

Career

Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career

What Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers Do

Other Job Titles Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers

Overview

Career

Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career

What Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers Do

Other Job Titles Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers

Majors Related to Career