CTE Month – February 2026 Spotlight: Evan Miller

CTE Month – February 2026
Spotlight: Pendleton High School Graduate Evan Miller

During Career Technical Education (CTE) Month, Pendleton High School reached out to a few PHS graduates who are working in CTE fields. Evan Miller, PHS Class of 2018, is a Flight Test Operator for Amazon. He works near the Pendleton Airport and uses the UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Range at his job.

As a student at PHS, Miller was on the robotics team, working in the FTC and FRC programs. He said the experience was a lot of fun and he really enjoyed it. He also took some engineering classes at PHS, including 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) and general engineering/manufacturing. “All of it was stuff I was very interested in. Not every skill transfers over one-for-one to the job I do now, but it teaches you the mentality of problem-solving and working with a team,” Miller said.

During the second half of his senior year at PHS, Miller did an internship at the UAS Range, which gave him exposure to that career field, building and flying small drones, and learning the technology and how to apply it. He also did a few job shadows with companies working at the range then. “It was great to get to know some people in the field, because when people remember your face and your name, that’s really what helps open doors later.”

Initially, he wanted to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, but first attended BMCC, earning his Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree and an Associate of Science degree. He also earned his drone operator license. Through a previous mentor at the UAS Range, he found out Amazon was hiring for positions in Pendleton. After competing against graduates from four-year universities, he was hired in fall 2019.

At Amazon, his team tests drones that deliver packages to homes, which Amazon uses in large cities. Miller said his team’s goal every day is to fly the drone through specific test scenarios, and when they encounter something that stops the drone from flying, they solve it. “It’s very dynamic, it’s different every day, and we’ve got to be real scrappy and find solutions. I also like the mix of indoor and outdoor work,” he said.

Miller said the drone field is changing rapidly; he believes the research and development and flight test areas of the field are high demand/high wage careers. However, the skill of flying drones by hand is not as important anymore, because it’s all automated.

What is Miller’s advice for high school students interested in the UAS field? “Get exposure to everything technology, to aerospace and aviation,” he said.

He also shared that Pendleton youth don’t have to leave the community to find successful careers. “The sentiment for a lot of young people in Pendleton is that you have to leave, if you don’t leave immediately you are just kind of stuck where you are,” Miller said. “I want to say that you don’t have to leave your hometown to find something good, which is why I am glad there are more companies wanting to come in, lay some roots and hire more people in our community.”