Summertime at Hughes means welcoming dozens of talented interns into our Maryland, California, and Utah offices for hands-on, real-world experiences. This year, over 50 individuals from top schools joined a variety of teams across the business, including engineering, manufacturing, legal, marketing, and more. In honor of National Intern Day 2025, we sat down with Varun Prasanna⎯sales engineering intern in our Germantown, MD office⎯to explore his journey to Hughes, his internship experience, and where he hopes to head next.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What led you to pursue an education/career in engineering?
I’m Varun Prasanna. I was born and raised in Central Iowa. (Fun fact: Iowa is the fictional birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek). I chose engineering, specifically electrical engineering, because I’m passionate about green energy and want to be part of building a more sustainable future and leaving the world a bit better than I found it.
At the same time, I’ve always had a strong interest and skill in sales and marketing, thanks to my time in DECA and my high school part-time job. That interest led me to pursue the Engineering Sales minor at Iowa State University, where I now serve as the president of the Iowa State Sales Engineering Club.
How did you hear about Hughes considering you are not from the DMV?
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what Hughes did until I applied. I saw the role in sales engineering and the industry aligned quite closely with my field—telecommunications/RF is a major field within electrical engineering—so I took a chance and submitted my application. After going through the interview process, I was fortunate to receive an offer.
What I’ve learned is that some of the best experiences come from stepping outside your comfort zone. If I had chosen to stay closer to home just for convenience or other options, I would’ve missed out on everything this opportunity had to offer. Thankfully, Hughes made the logistics of moving and settling easy, which helped make this internship possible and awesome.
Are there any mentors or teammates you’ve had during your time at Hughes you’d like to mention?
Overall, my time working with my fellow interns has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It was refreshing to sit alongside peers closer to my age and bond over shared experiences and interests. This helped create a comfortable and collaborative atmosphere that made the internship even more enjoyable. One thing I learned from my fellow interns is that everyone brings something different to the table, and that’s a good thing. My background and interests aren’t exactly the most typical, but being around this group reminded me that different perspectives are what make a team stronger.
I also learned some cool things from them, like where to get the best food in MoCo (yes, I’m starting to speak the local slang), and things to see in DC. I learned about what my fellow interns wish to accomplish in their life. Beyond the projects, it was the conversations, laughs, and shared stories that made working with them such a great part of this internship and a big part of my recommendation to work at Hughes/EchoStar.
I also want to take a moment to give a special shoutout to my manager. He was more than willing to dedicate time each day to meeting with me on my projects. His guidance was invaluable, and he went out of his way to connect me with various opportunities during my time here, helping me grow both professionally and personally.
Additionally, I’d like to thank the director of the sales engineering team for his role in ensuring that everything I needed for the summer was in order. He also made a big effort to help me network with other professionals at Hughes, which significantly broadened my perspective on the company and the industry.
While your time here isn’t quite over yet, what is the biggest thing you have learned/will take away from your internship experience?
One of the biggest takeaways from this experience is realizing that being a sales engineer means constantly switching hats, and it’s sometimes so fast it feels like you're in a one-man costume change montage. You’re the technical expert when things get complicated, the smooth talker when a client starts asking tough questions, the therapist when things go sideways, and the detective when no one knows what went wrong but you’re the one expected to figure it out. Thankfully, sales engineers have a good team of various professionals they work with that help them with this.
I also learned that the job doesn’t end when the deal is signed, quite far from it. After closing, you will still be going on site, making sure everything’s going well, reassuring the customer, and scouting out what else of value you can provide to help them grow. It's like being part engineer, part consultant, part mind reader…and 100% adaptable.
What is your ultimate professional goal?
My career goals have changed a lot over time. Back in 2nd or 3rd grade, I was fully committed to becoming a ninja. I was doing Taekwondo, which I stuck with for almost 9 years and even got my first-degree black belt. I was ready to head to Japan and live that ninja life...until I learned the worker’s comp wasn’t that great and apparently ninjas don’t get a matching 401k. So yeah, that dream took a hit.
These days, I’m aiming to be a VP of Sales or Marketing for a green energy company. A little less stealthy, a little more strategy. So overall, it is a lot easier on the knees.
But an important thing I’ve learned over the years is that it’s the people that make a place truly great, not just the job title or the material of the job. And my time at Hughes has really shown me that. From the people I’ve met to the support I’ve had, it’s been an experience that’s made me excited for what’s next, even if no one here is flipping through rooftops or throwing shuriken.