Ben, Mechanical EngineerI am a K-State graduate with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with interests in Additive Manufacturing, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and design.I learned a lot from working with Dr. Amy Betz in her research lab. In this role, I planned and organized workshops for middle school stem instructors. For those workshops, I took the technical information from our lab work and turned it into kid-friendly activities for middle school science classes. Throughout this job, I was able to improve upon my professional communication skills as well as my problem-solving and design abilities.I learned a lot about design working on the prosthetics team at K-State. We designed a socket for below-knee amputees from the ground up. We created a few prototypes and had an amputee test them out for us. The entire experience helped me grow as an engineer and designer. Being able to see first hand how an end-user interacts with a product I had designed helped me understand how someone who did not design the product saw it and felt about it. I was able to take that information and put it into the next iteration of the design.Working in the physics dept. as a lab assistant helped me build my communication and instruction skills. Working with students, explaining physics concepts, and helping them to understand the lab we were working on that day improved both my understanding of the topic and my ability to convey ideas and abstract thought with words and drawings. In my free time, I enjoy solving problems with effective, efficient solutions. I have been using my 3D printer to experiment and learn about 3D printing’s strengths and weaknesses. I’m constantly finding little problems around the house I can fix with 3D printing and designing the most effective solution I can.I also enjoy wood and metalworking. 2 years ago I made myself a new desk out of 2 big slabs of 10/4 live edge spalted silver maple. This past semester I made a computer case for my new PC out of some beautiful Paduak and Maple.