December 21, 2018

Working at Tesla, Thomas Kitt ’17 has relied on the comprehensive education he received at Susquehanna to move up the ladder.

“The ability for me to be able to cater my education to the things I wanted to learn and research really helped me out,” says Kitt, who started in sales and now designs solar systems for potential customers.

Kitt has drawn upon lessons learned in his classes as an earth and environmental sciences major, as well as an internship working on solar project impacts with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a capstone project tracking energy usage on campus.

He’s also soaked in chances to expand his knowledge at Tesla, which employs people from a variety of backgrounds.

“Although the job I first got with Tesla was a sales position and not a design-based position that I wanted, I knew that there would be a lot of room to move around in the company, so I just needed to get my foot in the door,” he says.

“I love the current position that I am in now because every single household is a new project,” adds Kitt.

“One hour I could be designing for a brand new home located in Las Vegas with a Spanish clay tile roof with no trees around, and then the next hour I could be designing for a job located in Mechanicsburg, Pa., with trees partially shading the 90+ year-old home.”

Entering Susquehanna as an undeclared major, Kitt credits Ahmed Lachhab, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, with getting him started on an environmental science career path.

“After a gentle push by taking Dr. Lachhab’s Environmental Hazards class, I came to realize my love for knowledge pertaining to the environmental sector,” he says.