JC Perez has always been highly involved in academics and extracurricular activities. Upon graduating from Cape Coral High School in 2010, JC began his pursuit of an Aerospace Engineering degree at Edison State College now known as Florida SouthWestern State College. With a unique set of skills, JC was able to obtain a student assistant position in the Communications and Marketing department. There JC learned more about graphic design, communications, marketing, advertising & sales promotion, social media marketing and content, photography and education (curriculum & instruction).
JC was able to maintain a 4.0 in math at Edison State College and went on to join Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Through Phi Theta Kappa, JC received a scholarship for $1000 from Coca-Cola's Leaders of Promise scholarship. In addition, through his involvement in the college, JC was awarded the Who's Who in American Universities & Colleges in 2012. JC completed his Associate of Arts Degree in May of 2012.
However, during that graduating semester at Edison State College, JC was presented with a unique opportunity. The opportunity involved become a Resident Assistant and the newly built dorms on the campus of Edison State College, LightHouse Commons. Here, JC Managed over 40 students on the first floor of the dorms. In addition to that, JC believed in creating community, culture and meaningful experiences for students as they "lived and learned" at Edison State College. With this in mind, the founding Resident Assistants began creating the "houses" of Lighthouse Commons. Some of the House designs can be seen in the Graphic Design Portfolio page.
After spending an extra year at Edison State College, JC felt it was time to move on and pursue Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida. Before leaving Edison State College, JC and a group of colleagues with the direction of the Alumni Association founded the Student Alumni Association at Edison State College. JC also applied and was selected to participate in an Aerospace Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates at Texas A&M University as part of a National Science Foundation Program. So for the Summer of 2013, JC research and developed a modified teaching curriculum and instruction plan in efforts to incorporate interactive technology in large engineering classrooms. Some of JC's activities at Texas A&M can be seen in the Engineering Portfolio section of this website.
In the Fall of 2013, JC continued his educational career at the University of Central Florida in pursuit of an Aerospace Engineering Degree. As a transfer student, JC was a bit hesitant in getting involved right away into extracurricular activities. Nevertheless, JC joined the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute (eli2) at UCF. It was there where JC found a place to grow professionally and academically. Starting out as a volunteer in eli2, JC believed that students needed to be more involved in the resources and the networks that eli2 was offering to students. JC joined the student group to help advertise and engage the students of the College of Engineering and Computer Science in pursuing an Engineering Leadership track.
Within a year, JC was promoted to Director of Interns for the student team of eli2. In this role JC focused on leading the team through strategic management and was responsible for leading the project and event management of student-centered events. JC believed in changing the culture of the student organizations in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, moving them from an isolationist mentality into a community effort where all engineers collaborated to pursue a common goal. JC would continue to grow the program for two years. Some of the events and details of JC's involvement in eli2 can be found in the Engineering Portfolio section of this website.
Even though JC was highly involved in eli2, JC also participated in several other organization during his attendance at the University of Central Florida including the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics at UCF, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UCF, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at UCF and the American Society for Engineering Education. In addition, JC was recruited to join several Engineering Honor Societies including Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
JC graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's of Science in Aerospace Engineering in May 2016.
JC began his new position as Project Engineer for Belcan Engineering in August 2016. Belcan offers outsourced design solutions for Pratt & Whitney. At Belcan, JC was an Integrated Product Team Leader for the 24K and 17K Next Generation Product Family High Pressure Turbine airfoils for Pratt & Whitney. He led a technical team of engineers through the preliminary and detail design phases of engineering changes.
After more than 2.5 years at Belcan, JC was offered a position at NASA Kennedy Space Center through Millennium Engineering and Integration Company as a Life Cycle Review Engineer.
There, JC lead the Spacecraft Offline Operations Review team among several other integration roles in support of the Ground Integration Engineers.
Soon after, JC was promoted to the VAB Ground Integration Engineer responsible for all the Facility Systems, Ground Support Systems and Ground Support Equipment in the VAB through Systems Engineering, Technical Integration and Requirements Management.
In June 2020, JC was offered a position to work as a Systems Engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center through ERC, Inc. working on the next generation space suit - the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unity (xEMU). Currently, JC is part of the Pressure Garment Subsystem System Engineering Team responsible for the Analysis Integration. JC works to ensure required analysis, technical issues and related contracts are being executed, resolved, meeting requirements and planned on a schedule.
JC was able to maintain a 4.0 in math at Edison State College and went on to join Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Through Phi Theta Kappa, JC received a scholarship for $1000 from Coca-Cola's Leaders of Promise scholarship. In addition, through his involvement in the college, JC was awarded the Who's Who in American Universities & Colleges in 2012. JC completed his Associate of Arts Degree in May of 2012.
However, during that graduating semester at Edison State College, JC was presented with a unique opportunity. The opportunity involved become a Resident Assistant and the newly built dorms on the campus of Edison State College, LightHouse Commons. Here, JC Managed over 40 students on the first floor of the dorms. In addition to that, JC believed in creating community, culture and meaningful experiences for students as they "lived and learned" at Edison State College. With this in mind, the founding Resident Assistants began creating the "houses" of Lighthouse Commons. Some of the House designs can be seen in the Graphic Design Portfolio page.
After spending an extra year at Edison State College, JC felt it was time to move on and pursue Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida. Before leaving Edison State College, JC and a group of colleagues with the direction of the Alumni Association founded the Student Alumni Association at Edison State College. JC also applied and was selected to participate in an Aerospace Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates at Texas A&M University as part of a National Science Foundation Program. So for the Summer of 2013, JC research and developed a modified teaching curriculum and instruction plan in efforts to incorporate interactive technology in large engineering classrooms. Some of JC's activities at Texas A&M can be seen in the Engineering Portfolio section of this website.
In the Fall of 2013, JC continued his educational career at the University of Central Florida in pursuit of an Aerospace Engineering Degree. As a transfer student, JC was a bit hesitant in getting involved right away into extracurricular activities. Nevertheless, JC joined the Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute (eli2) at UCF. It was there where JC found a place to grow professionally and academically. Starting out as a volunteer in eli2, JC believed that students needed to be more involved in the resources and the networks that eli2 was offering to students. JC joined the student group to help advertise and engage the students of the College of Engineering and Computer Science in pursuing an Engineering Leadership track.
Within a year, JC was promoted to Director of Interns for the student team of eli2. In this role JC focused on leading the team through strategic management and was responsible for leading the project and event management of student-centered events. JC believed in changing the culture of the student organizations in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, moving them from an isolationist mentality into a community effort where all engineers collaborated to pursue a common goal. JC would continue to grow the program for two years. Some of the events and details of JC's involvement in eli2 can be found in the Engineering Portfolio section of this website.
Even though JC was highly involved in eli2, JC also participated in several other organization during his attendance at the University of Central Florida including the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics at UCF, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UCF, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at UCF and the American Society for Engineering Education. In addition, JC was recruited to join several Engineering Honor Societies including Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
JC graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's of Science in Aerospace Engineering in May 2016.
JC began his new position as Project Engineer for Belcan Engineering in August 2016. Belcan offers outsourced design solutions for Pratt & Whitney. At Belcan, JC was an Integrated Product Team Leader for the 24K and 17K Next Generation Product Family High Pressure Turbine airfoils for Pratt & Whitney. He led a technical team of engineers through the preliminary and detail design phases of engineering changes.
After more than 2.5 years at Belcan, JC was offered a position at NASA Kennedy Space Center through Millennium Engineering and Integration Company as a Life Cycle Review Engineer.
There, JC lead the Spacecraft Offline Operations Review team among several other integration roles in support of the Ground Integration Engineers.
Soon after, JC was promoted to the VAB Ground Integration Engineer responsible for all the Facility Systems, Ground Support Systems and Ground Support Equipment in the VAB through Systems Engineering, Technical Integration and Requirements Management.
In June 2020, JC was offered a position to work as a Systems Engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center through ERC, Inc. working on the next generation space suit - the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unity (xEMU). Currently, JC is part of the Pressure Garment Subsystem System Engineering Team responsible for the Analysis Integration. JC works to ensure required analysis, technical issues and related contracts are being executed, resolved, meeting requirements and planned on a schedule.