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“How do you imagine people will operate the Deep Space Network in ten years?” After introducing some problems of operating the global collection of space-leaning telecommunications equipment, this prompt was one of the first questions we asked students to set the stage of their 8- or 10-week internships. While inquiry methods are typically applied to classroom learning, we applied similar strategies to designing custom internships that would be meaningful to the student and beneficial to the project, drawing on students’ unique background and experiences. Inquiry methods have the benefits to the student of giving them a scaffolded space to choose an investigation and deliverable which complements their strengths, or one that stretches them to learn new skills. Working backwards from initial project goals, we scoped the initial question-forming phase of inquiry design to those open issues the project needed addressing. The Deep Space Network was undergoing a major transformation in Follow-the-Sun, transitioning to daylight-only operation from 24/7 work. This resulted in many open questions requiring contributions in the fields of user research, design, and software development. We identified other objectives in the areas of leadership; teamwork; disability, equity, inclusion; and validation and iteration. This chapter describes the methods we used to design the internship project, how we facilitated it, prepared for each intern’s arrival, and measured progress in the students’ 8- to 10-week internships. This method has been used for all 18 interns over seven years to positive outcomes, resulting in four internal hires. 

Transitioning from graduate student roles in academia to professional careers in industry and government affords ISEE’s Professional Development Program (PDP) alumni the opportunity to apply lessons and techniques learned at the PDP to new environments with new goals. In mission-focused government roles, PDP alumni apply their expertise in inquiry-style teaching to mentor junior staff and develop projects that meet governmental requirements, while preserving STEM learner identities. Alumni find that the principles of inquiry-style teaching have applicability across professional development spectrums — from mentoring high school interns through training postdoctoral researchers and managing teams of diverse career stages. In industry, where fast-paced corporate goals drive innovation, alumni have found that PDP principles in developing explicit content and practice learning outcomes have helped them develop unique roles within their companies. Additionally, across both industry and government roles, all PDP alumni on this panel report that PDP’s focus on leadership development, effective meeting strategies, and inclusive management practices have readied them for their post-academia careers.