TKS doesn't place students in jobs. It never has. What it gives them is early exposure to technology most adults haven't touched yet, a real project to build around that curiosity, and a room full of industry professionals to defend that work in front of. Everything after that, the internships, the research roles, the jobs at Tesla and SpaceX and Google, is earned. Here's what that actually looks like for five TKS alumni now working at some of the biggest names in tech.
Building the batteries behind Tesla and SpaceX
Shagun Maheshwari joined TKS in 2017 curious about energy systems. That curiosity turned into a real project, then a battery startup she founded in college, then a job at SpaceX making sure the batteries powering Starlink satellites hold up in space for years without failing. Today she's a Cell Engineer at Tesla, helping design the batteries that power electric cars and grid scale energy storage.
Tobias Grether-Murray and Valkyrie Holmes followed the same pattern, in their own directions. Tobias came into TKS in 2022 already interested in manufacturing and clean energy, and that interest helped land him a Tesla internship where he helped get one of the company's most advanced factory lines running two weeks ahead of schedule. Valkyrie's path pointed toward engineering and climate, which led to a role on SpaceX's rocket program and a data science internship at NASA. She's since built her own company helping homeowners and insurers protect properties from climate disasters, raising $3.5 million along the way.
Teaching AI to think: Google and Apple
The same pattern shows up in artificial intelligence. Bonnie Li went through TKS in 2017 with an early interest in machine learning, years before most people even used the term. That head start took her through NVIDIA and DeepMind, and today she's a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, working on some of the company's most advanced AI models.
Simon Guo, from that same 2017 cohort, chased his curiosity about how AI works into internships at Apple, Cohere, and NVIDIA, with research published at some of the top academic conferences in the world. He's now pursuing a PhD at Stanford, working on making AI systems smarter and more capable.
Why this keeps happening
None of this happens by accident. It happens because a teenager spends months building something real, in a field most adults haven't touched yet, and then has to stand in front of people who do that work professionally and explain it clearly. That's a different kind of preparation than a school project graded by one teacher. It's much closer to what companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Google, and Apple actually look for when they hire: someone who can go deep on a hard problem and hold their own explaining it.
These five stories aren't outliers. Across the wider TKS alumni network, over 1,000 internships have been secured at some of the world's leading companies, out of more than 5,500 alumni worldwide who have started 60+ companies and raised over $250 million combined.
FAQs
Do TKS alumni actually work at companies like Tesla and SpaceX?
Yes. Many TKS alumni have gone on to work at companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Google, and Apple. This is because the program gives students hands-on exposure to emerging technology years before most people encounter it, along with real projects to build and a room of industry professionals to present that work to, which is exactly the kind of preparation these companies look for when hiring.
What companies have hired TKS graduates?
Beyond Tesla, SpaceX, Google, and Apple, TKS alumni have gone on to NASA, Meta, NVIDIA, and Anyscale, among others, alongside over 1,000 internships earned across technology, healthcare, finance, and emerging innovation sectors.
Does TKS have proof of real career outcomes?
Yes. TKS tracks and shares alumni outcomes each year, including specific roles, companies, and funding raised by alumni founded startups. You can download our full Alumni Impact Report at tks.world to see the complete picture.
What kind of projects do TKS alumni work on at these companies?
It depends on the field. At Tesla and SpaceX, alumni tend to work on batteries, manufacturing, and production software. At Google and Apple, they tend to work on artificial intelligence and machine learning research. In both cases, it traces back to real, hands on projects that started during the TKS program.
How does a TKS project translate into a job at a company like Google or Apple?
TKS gives students early exposure to emerging technology, a platform to build real projects around it, and a room of industry professionals and peers to present that work to. That combination of building something real and defending it under scrutiny is exactly what develops the confidence and skill these companies look for when hiring.
Is TKS's outcome data verified or self-reported?
TKS shares alumni reported career updates, cross referenced with public professional profiles where available. Many alumni also speak publicly about their TKS experience and career paths through LinkedIn, press coverage, and interviews, which readers can verify independently.
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