Engineering: Creating Our Future with Darin

Transcript

Let’s hear from Darin, a senior ocean engineering major and sustainability minor from Worcester, Massachusetts, who’s gonna tell you about diving into his classes and preparing for senior design, Florida Tech’s signature Capstone engineering experience. Darin’s got an amazing Florida Tech story, which actually began before he was even born. But let’s let him tell that. Take it away.

– Thanks, Alex. I’ve always had close ties to Florida Tech. Both my parents are alumni who not only met on campus but got married on top of the Crawford Building. So when I knew that I wanted to study renewable energy and ocean engineering, I knew Florida Tech was perfect for me too. From day one, I began getting hands-on experience. In my Intro to Ocean Engineering course, we were assigned a project that had us form teams, design, build, and race prototype boats in the campus pool. At Florida Tech, this is just how it works. If you’re an engineering student, you take courses in your major and participate in exciting projects starting your first year, and it only gets better from there. I’ve gone to attend a Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference, as well as participate in a three-day research cruise across the Florida Keys. These immersive experiences have helped me to gain valuable practical experience in my field. Now, my Florida Tech engineering experience is culminating in something we call senior design. In senior design, we form teams to engineer working solutions to real-world problems. My team and I have designed and built a shoreline wave energy converter that operates on a magnetic induction coil. In other words, a machine that converts wave energy into electric power. We develop projects like this in our student design center, the Panther works, before we present them at the Annual Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Student Design Showcase, where industry professionals will observe and judge our work. As a senior, I’m often thinking about what’s next, but whether I decide to further my education or pursue my first job as an engineer, I know that the experience I’ve gained here at Florida Tech has prepared me for success. Alex, back to you.

– Thank you, Darin. I love that you love the university where your parents fell in love, especially since you’re having such a great experience working alongside other Florida Tech students on a senior design project that means something to you. You’re a great ambassador for engineering at Florida Tech. Awesome job, Darin.