14 Stanford students reveal their ultimate dream jobs

Melia Robinson

Over Stanford University's 125-year history, the star-studded list of alumni has included the founders of Google, astronauts, actors, a golf legend, and a chairman of the Federal Reserve.

On a recent visit to campus, we stopped 14 students on the street and asked them to tell us what their dream job is. 

Here's what they said.

Simar Mangat wants to be the next Elon Musk.

Major: Computer science, 2017

Simar Mangat looks to Elon Musk as a role model.

The South African-born serial entrepreneur sold his stake in PayPal and helped launch three companies — SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity — into industry powerhouses.

Mangat shares Musks's diversity of interests. He holds a passion for education, medical diagnostics, and computer science.

His dream job is one that allows him to "have an impact in multiple spaces," lead innovative companies in scaling, and "drive the frontier forward."

As a social impact project manager, Kerry Wang wants to steer startups and corporations into programming that benefits the public good.

Major: Human biology, 2017

Most companies employ project managers who identify a need among customers, break down the problem into requirements, and create a solution. Wang hopes to take this approach to community organizing.

Ideally, a company like Google or Apple would hire her to develop programming for social impact, such as a learn-to-code camp where community members develop new skills.

Ross Johnson hopes to design the next generation of airplanes.

Name: Ross Johnson

Major: Mechanical engineering (M.S.), 2017

Ross Johnson has dreamed of designing airplanes for Boeing or another airline manufacturer since he was a kid. But after working as an engineer at BAE Systems and studying mechanical engineering at Princeton University, he realized the gig isn't so promising.

"The thing is ... airplane design is about as good as it's going to get," Johnson says. "All there is to do is incremental efficiencies, like taking 5% off the drag."