Jeff Martin, Jr.

I was studying mechanical engineering, but I wanted a better hands-on learning experience. At my other university, if I wanted to apply the things that I was learning, I had to do it on my own time. I could be designing stuff and working with my hands all the time at Penn College. Here, the hands-on experience is paired directly with theory. It’s immersed in theory. I can have both of those things at Penn College.

My major at my last school was mechanical engineering and my major at Penn College is manufacturing engineering technology. The primary difference is that with a mechanical engineering degree, I'm expected to have a broad knowledge in everything regarding design and just a general sense of mechanical assemblies and things like that. And then at Penn College, I'm guaranteed a very specialized education and everything that I need to solve complex manufacturing problems and that's paired with hands-on experience.

Working with my hands and building things is a part of my identity. I felt a lack of motivation at my previous school because I couldn't do that. I just needed a change to feel fulfilled every day. I had to leave to get motivation and find purpose. It paid off, because I'm working hands-on every day at Penn College. And I need that.

No, and that was something that I really liked about Penn College. I came here and talked with a lot of professors because that was one of my concerns. I asked how I was going be competitive in the job force against other applicants from other bigger schools. They ensured me that whenever you come to Penn College there are a lot of opportunities. We have a large job fair and the skillset that you get from Penn College will make you more competitive than people from other schools because you'll have all the things that the other schools have plus the hands-on experience, and employers really like that.

It's really helped me to jump right into it and try to meet as many people as possible and explore as many labs and learn about as many different engineering technologies as I can. I try to get as much experience on equipment and just take advantage of experience fully, because I think Penn College has a lot to offer. Even times when I didn't make the initial leap, people have come up to me and offered help and helped further my experience, even though I didn't ask for it. They just want to help. And, if you say “yes,” they're more than willing to go above and beyond for you.

I am a mechanical engineer at Near Earth Autonomy in Pittsburgh, PA where I design physical components to support the robotics and software teams that are working on developing autonomous systems for drones. The autonomous systems that we build are contained within a physical payload that is attached to the drone as it flies. My job is to design that physical payload. For most projects, this is computers, sensors, cameras, and other instrumentation that are bundled together into a robust package. My biggest requirement for the place that I worked after graduation is that I can be passionate about the work that the company does. This opportunity has been a dream because I am excited every day to arrive at work knowing we are really doing work that is amazing and cutting edge.