07/30/2026
If engineering intern Justin Betanzos had to describe his internship in just three words, he’d go with “shocking, impressive, and unorthodox.”
Justin is a rising senior at Santa Clara University studying mechanical engineering. He is spending his summer as part of the Scaled team on the JetZero Demonstrator aircraft supporting internal cockpit pressure testing and tooling assembly for cockpit fixtures. While familiar with Scaled’s work through his engineering mentors, Justin felt he had a solid idea of what to expect from his internship - but the professionalism, rigor, and deep expertise of Scaled’s subject matter experts (SMEs) have exceeded those initial expectations. He expected to take on a heavy workload with high standards but didn’t anticipate how “hands-off” and trusting Scaled’s engineers would be, giving him the freedom to dive in, take ownership, and learn through real trial and error.
While Justin acknowledges his work this summer has deepened his understanding of tolerances, best practices, and industry standards for materials and specifications, his biggest takeaway for his future career has been the work environment. He’s enjoyed how Scaled engineers split their time between focused desk work and hands-on involvement on the shop floor, and he appreciates the high level of talent in the people he works alongside. It has shown him that who you’re doing the work with is just as important as the work itself. When he is not at work or working on his personal engineering projects, Justin enjoys surfing, reading, cooking, mountain biking, snowboarding, camping, and traveling. This summer, he climbed Mount Whitney and competed in a mountain bike race at Mammoth Lakes, in addition to his most recent solo trip to Patagonia National Park. His advice for future Scaled interns is to not be afraid of asking for feedback as often as possible, because the knowledge you will gain here is hard to find elsewhere!
