MSU senior Parker Strach is weeks away from graduating with a degree in electrical engineering. He is excited, he is ambitious, and he is prepared.
He has a picture in his head of what his future career might look like. He also has a picture of the impact he wants to have on the world.
An unabashed lover of nature and gadgets, Parker sees himself working on energy recapture systems, which convert lesser-thought-of by-products, like the sound or vibration of a car driving down the road, into useable energy.
“It’s very hard to accomplish,” he says. “But if I was part of it, that would be pretty awesome.”
He credits the connections he’s made—with other Spartan engineers, with faculty members, and with the career services team in the College of Engineering—for showing him what’s possible.
And he credits donor support—that funds scholarships, internship programs, and other hands-on experiential learning opportunities in engineering—for making sure that he’s ready for it.
“It's so cool when donors support things that excite them, because it inspires the next generation to be excited, too, and to carry the excitement even further,” he says.
In addition to picturing his future career and his impact on the world, Parker can also picture his future, ambitiously early, retirement — “By 30, or maybe 35!” he says, and you have no choice but to believe him, because if anybody can do it, this aspiring green-energy-engineer can.
Interested in helping students thrive on Give Green Day this year? Learn more at givingday.msu.edu