Mechanical engineering student Jezreel Konstantinos leveraged an appreciation for mathematics—along with a stint with Temple Formula Racing—to help complete back-to-back internships with Tesla, first with the Chassis/Torque parts quality team, then as part of the Model 3 Quality Engineering inline quality team.

"I worked with a team of engineers to train deep learning software to detect high severity defects on the line in real-time, designed and built high-precision pressure leak tests for the Model 3 brake system, proposed part design changes for safety-critical restraint systems and prepared data for Model Y headcount planning," she said. 

Konstantinos secured the internship through her participation in the student-run, multidisciplinary racing team, which designs and builds an open cockpit Formula 1-style race car from scratch, competing worldwide against fellow engineering students.

"One of the best ways to get an internship with a company like Tesla is to show them you're capable of real engineering projects," she said. "The team mimics the real-life engineering scenarios that I've faced closer than any other project I've been a part of." 

That perseverance made an impression at Tesla, where she was offered a job before even completing her degree, and also helped to connect her sister—an engineering student at Rowan University—to a software test engineering internship position. 

"Long hours and hard engineering problems don't intimidate me. They excite me," Konstantinos said. "It doesn't matter if I'm not the subject matter expert. If I don't quit, I will be."