My father is a master plumber so I have been in the passenger seat of a plumbing truck as early as 5 years old learning the ropes. When I graduated high school I didn’t have much direction, so I went to do what I was already familiar with, plumbing. I worked for a commercial plumbing company starting as an apprentice at age 18 and became a Foreman on large commercial projects by age 21. At this point I realized that while plumbing is a lot of fun and is extremely rewarding, I wanted to do something else with my life. I have always been interested in the big questions about our universe and the physics of the big and the small since having read a lot of philosophy in my late teens. I came to the conclusion after extensive research that the crossroads between my interests and my career path would likely be mechanical engineering. I had taken some night classes at a community college while doing plumbing work. I ended up with a C in both college algebra and precalculus. I was never particularly gifted at mathematics in school, but I also never tried and didn’t find the subject matter interesting; That was the case until I took college calculus. I reluctantly signed up for calculus knowing that I was likely to fail, but I knew I needed to pass calculus to ever have a chance of being an engineer. I ended up finding calculus captivating. I spent hours in the school library filling in the gaps I had allowed to form in my mathematical aptitude to eventually be able to attain a B in calculus. My new found love for mathematics was the final confirmation I needed. Once I set my sights on my new career goal, I quit my plumbing job and went back to school full time in 2017 to pursue a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Kennesaw State University. During my sophomore year, I started an internship at UPS in Robotic Cell Design which I continued part time through the completion of my degree. In 2020 I earned my Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Kennesaw State University. I currently work at Jered LLC where I currently work as an Advanced Mechanical Engineer responsible for the design, manufacturing support, and customer correspondence for aircraft elevator machinery for nuclear powered aircraft carriers. I earned my Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2023. I have worked at various companies in a design engineering capacity. My specialization within my field is machine design engineering, but I have a general passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. I, likewise, have a passion for working with my hands and building things so that I can see a theoretical design come to fruition in a real product or process. Since starting a career in STEM and reflecting on my career path, I have felt a calling to share my career building knowledge with others to help them build a strong and successful career in STEM. I serve as a devoted husband to my wonderful wife, and father of two boys.