Hunter Billie arrived at Illinois Tech this fall from Arizona with something most first-year students don’t have yet: three internships. The first came from a single conversation with a company CEO. The most recent was at Axon, the public-safety technology company behind police body cameras and drones. Now in his first semester as an aerospace engineering major, he’s already in robotics, rocketry and Lunabotics, and he joined Elevate during his first week on campus. We sat down with Hunter to hear how he built his network so early, and where he’s taking it next.

Q. What brought you from Arizona to Illinois Tech?

“A few things. My mom’s side of the family is in Illinois, so I wanted to be closer to family. As I looked through schools, I saw that Illinois Tech has a very good track record for research and development, which is the field I want to get into. Engineers I knew at Axon knew Illinois Tech graduates and said it was a very good school. And I figured a big city like Chicago would have a lot of opportunities. That’s what made my final decision.”

Q. You landed your first internship by asking a CEO. How did that happen?

“In high school I was in a professional academy where students explore different STEM fields. I was in the engineering track my junior and senior years, and our instructor took us on field trips to companies he had connections with. At one of them, a tactical-equipment company that works with the military and police, the CEO showed us around. I asked about internships, and I also reached out to him on LinkedIn. He said yes, and I worked there that summer.”

Q. Tell us about the other two.

“The second was at Stone Solutions + Research Collective, a smaller company that builds training products for the military. It was hybrid, in person once a week, and I reported straight to the CEO. I tested software in virtual reality, wrote bug reports, and built a persona presentation on a military role after interviewing service members.”

“The third was at Axon this past summer, and it was by far my favorite. It’s a big company, and I really felt like I was making an impact with my projects. I met people from all over, and I learned about police technology, drones and body cameras.”

Q. What skills did you build?

“At the first internship, I applied my 3D modeling to real products instead of just practicing in theory. I’d come in, figure out what needed to be done or improved, and work on it until I had a finished prototype. At the second, I learned how software works by testing it in VR, finding bugs, reporting them and running through it again once they were fixed.”

Q. What was your biggest takeaway?

“I really like working at a large company. At a smaller company I knew almost everyone, which was a great experience. But at a big company you’re always meeting new people, and there are always projects you can join, sometimes in different parts of the world.”

Q. Who opened the door for you?

“My high school instructor, Justin Davis. He taught us the importance of networking. Whenever we met anyone who worked at a company, he made sure we connected with them and kept talking with them. I kept that habit. Whenever there’s a company I’m interested in, I try to connect with at least one engineer and understand the job.”

Q. How did you find Elevate?

“At the Elevate table during orientation week. It instantly reminded me of how much I learned in my high school program, helping students get into the professional world. I wanted to get back into that mindset: staying on top of your professional growth and always improving.”

Q. What should students who haven’t joined know?

“You get out of it what you put in. If you want to find something or do something, Elevate will guide you to it, but you also have to take the steps to complete your goal. I’ve used it to find internships and places to apply, and there are credentials like AWS. If you want to get ahead in your professional life, not just in school, you should join Elevate.”

Q. Which Elevate experiences excite you most?

“Quantum computing in Chicago. It stood out from everything else I’d seen, and it’s probably the first thing I’ll go into with Elevate. I’m also working toward an AWS certification by the end of next semester.”

Q. What would you tell a first-year student?

“First impressions mean a lot. Make connecting with faculty and staff a priority, see what opportunities are available now and later, and get to know the people who work here. Those connections can lead to research opportunities or recommendations down the road.”

Q. Finish this sentence: career readiness means…

“…having the mindset to be ready for your career, but also being open to other options. I used to think you had to carry your own weight and figure it all out alone. Now I see that if you’re struggling, you reach out to anyone who’s available to help.”

Q. What’s next?

“I’m in robotics, rocketry and Lunabotics, and I’m applying to be vice president of engineering for robotics. Long term, I want to work for a company building non-lethal public-safety technology, like Axon, and someday start my own company.”

Interview conducted by Illinois Tech Career Services, November 2026; answers edited and condensed for clarity.