--- title: From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s... description: Carlos Orozco, a PhD computer scientist, professor, and quantum software consultant for Colombia's Ministry of Science, shares his career journey from... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s Journey Into Big Tech | daily.dev og:description: Carlos Orozco, a PhD computer scientist, professor, and quantum software consultant for Colombia's Ministry of Science, shares his career journey from... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/TYn7G8qHh.png og:image:alt: From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s Journey Into Big Tech og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s Journey Into Big Tech **[JetBrains](https://daily.dev/sources/jetbrains)** · 9 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Carlos Orozco, a PhD computer scientist, professor, and quantum software consultant for Colombia's Ministry of Science, shares his career journey from healthcare Java development to NASA Space Apps Challenge leadership. He discusses what skills actually get developers hired (strong fundamentals plus communication), how to approach interview rejection as feedback, and why using professional tools like JetBrains IDEs from day one builds habits that transfer directly to industry. He also advocates for balanced learning combining formal education, self-directed study, and responsible AI use as an accelerator rather than a shortcut. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#java](https://daily.dev/tags/java), [#jetbrains](https://daily.dev/tags/jetbrains) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s Journey Into Big Tech","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh"},"datePublished":"2026-03-11T13:23:07.832Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T13:23:37.026Z","description":"Carlos Orozco, a PhD computer scientist, professor, and quantum software consultant for Colombia's Ministry of Science, shares his career journey from...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca69e78f570dbe5867fdfc1833917f1a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ca69e78f570dbe5867fdfc1833917f1a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"JetBrains","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"JetBrains","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/53ecf0c676f34b3896ee109609d91efa","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/jetbrains"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/from-classroom-code-to-nasa-challenges-carlos-orozco-s-journey-into-big-tech-tyn7g8qhh","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"career,java,jetbrains","timeRequired":"PT9M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"JetBrains","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/jetbrains"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"From Classroom Code to NASA Challenges: Carlos Orozco’s Journey Into Big Tech"}]} ```