Zelcastalumni map

People who leave NASA Ames Research Center most often go to a long tail of companies. 20% go small. Median stay 1y

These are the engineers in the Zelcast network and the profiles run through the Eng Scorer, not NASA Ames Research Center's headcount: 71 people on a map of 26,572, the No. 135 company on it by people. Updated August 20, 2026.

People on the map
710.3% of everyone on the map
There now
11% of the people here
Moved on
7099% of the people here
Median tenure
1ymiddle half 4m to 1y 3m

Put NASA Ames Research Center side by side with another company, every number against every number.

Came from, went to

Ribbon width is the number of people who made the move. Most arrive from NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA AmesResearch Cent…30 in · 62 out

62 recorded departures to 57 companies, none more than 2 to any one of them

4NASA - National…
4 of 30 recorded arrivals shown, 26 more from 26 other companies0 of 62 recorded departures shown, 62 more to 57 other companies

After NASA Ames Research Center

  • 20%Joined a startup12
  • 23%Joined a big company14
  • 57%Elsewhere

Shares of those who moved on, by their next stop.

How long people stay

48%<1y
28%1-2y
20%2-4y
4%4-7y
0%7y+
1y median tenuremiddle half 4m to 1y 3m

25 stays with both a start and an end on the record.

Who comes and goes, by year

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
joined left2026 is a partial year

2012 to 2026: 57 joined, 57 left.

Caliber

84mediantop 10%94
0Eng Scorer caliber, 71 scored99

Titles held here

  1. Research Intern11
  2. Software Engineer Intern8
  3. Intern7
  4. Software Engineer5
  5. Software Development Intern4

5 most common titles, by people who held them.

First job on the record for 56% of people here.

Behind the median

Everyone here with an Eng Scorer read, placed in their caliber tier.

  • 6%Exceptional4 people
  • 18%Strong13 people
  • 39%Solid28 people
  • 31%Emerging22 people
  • 6%Unproven4 people

71 of the 71 people here carry an Eng Scorer tier.

Exceptional and strong are the top two of the five tiers. 17 of the 71 people here with a read sit in them, 24%. A tier is the band an Eng Scorer caliber score falls in, so this is the same measurement as the median on the caliber card, opened up.

Whether a title rose here

The level of the first title recorded here, against the last.

29%Titles that rose17 of 58 classified people

  • 29%Rose17 people
  • 59%Stayed level34 people
  • 12%Fell7 people

58 of the 71 people here had a title that could be placed on the ladder before and after.

A title rose when the last title recorded here sits higher on the ladder than the first; for someone who recorded one title here and then left, it is measured against the first title of their next role. The ladder runs intern, junior, mid, senior, staff or manager, principal, director, VP, then founder or C-level. A title that matches no rung is left out rather than guessed, and product, program and project managers are left out entirely, being a different ladder. That leaves 58 of the 71 people here classified, and it leans towards people who have left: someone still here on a single recorded title has nothing to be measured against.

Where they studied

  1. UC Berkeley40.0%
  2. Stanford12.9%
  3. San Jose State8.6%
  4. UT Austin5.7%
  5. Carnegie Mellon4.3%
  6. MIT4.3%

The 6 most listed schools among the 70 people here with a school on file.

Of the 70 people here with a school on file, 28 list UC Berkeley, 9 list Stanford and 6 list San Jose State. A person can list more than one school, so these overlap rather than add up.

Public work

one square is one in a hundred
35%have a public GitHub account on their profile

25 of the 71 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts. An account the check did not find reads the same as no account, so this is a floor rather than a census.

Across the 325 companies on the map that can show this figure, the median is 38%.

Where they are now

68% of the people who have worked at NASA Ames Research Center and list a location live in the San Francisco Bay Area today, against 47% of everyone on the map.

NASA Ames Research Center
Everyone on the map
  • 68%SF Bay Area48 · map 47%
  • 18%New York13 · map 33%
  • 4%Washington DC3 · map 7%
  • 10%Somewhere else7

All 71 people who worked at NASA Ames Research Center list a location, and every share here is over them.

Where they live now, from the profile as it reads today, not where they sat while they worked at NASA Ames Research Center: a metro here does not mean the company has an office in it. The lower strip is the same metros across the whole map, for comparison.

Key facts

  • 71 people on the Zelcast alumni map have worked at NASA Ames Research Center: 1 are there now and 70 have moved on.
  • The most common previous employer before NASA Ames Research Center is NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (4 people).
  • The median tenure at NASA Ames Research Center is 1y (middle half 4m to 1y 3m).
  • Of those who moved on from NASA Ames Research Center, fewer than 3 went on to a founder title, 20% joined a company with 200 or fewer people, and 23% joined a company with 10,000 or more.
  • The median Eng Scorer caliber of people who have worked at NASA Ames Research Center is 84 on the 0 to 99 scale (71 scored).
  • The most common title held at NASA Ames Research Center is Research Intern, then Software Engineer Intern.
  • Of the 70 people here with a school on file, 28 list UC Berkeley (40.0%), then Stanford (9). A person can list more than one school, so these overlap rather than add up.
  • 68% of the 71 people here who list a location live in SF Bay Area today, against 47% of everyone on the map. That is where they live now, not the office they sat in while they worked here.
  • 35% of the 71 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts have a public GitHub account on it.
  • Of the 58 people here whose title could be placed on a ladder both before and after, 17 rose, 34 stayed level and 7 fell.

About this data: built from 144,786 jobs across 26,572 engineers in the Zelcast network and Eng Scorer reads, updated August 20, 2026. A move counts when the next role starts within 24 months of leaving; companies with fewer than 20 people on the map are not shown, and destinations with fewer than 3 people are folded into the totals. Caliber is the Eng Scorer score.

Worked at NASA Ames Research Center? See how your profile reads to a startup hiring manager, and where it ranks among 26,572 engineers.

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