{"id":4442,"date":"2018-05-17T12:16:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T17:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/for-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=4442"},"modified":"2018-05-23T16:32:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T21:32:41","slug":"six-uw-stout-students-are-universitys-first-mechanical-engineering-graduates","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/six-uw-stout-students-are-universitys-first-mechanical-engineering-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"Six UW-Stout students are university\u2019s first mechanical engineering graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
The six students who are the first UW-Stout mechanical engineering graduates are left to right, Steve Dillon, Jamison Noye, Ryan Monroe, Zachary Johnson, David Zalusky and Kevin Larson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he was a teenager growing up in Farmington, Minn., Ryan Monroe loved working with BMX bicycles and found he had a knack for fixing them and optimizing them to improve the ride.<\/p>\n

After earning an Associate of Arts degree at Inver Hills Community College and then attending Minnesota State College in Mankato for a while, Monroe knew he wanted a different way of learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard about UW-Stout and the labs it has and the hands-on practical approach. I learn better that way,\u201d said Monroe, one of six students making up the first graduating class at UW-Stout of mechanical engineering majors. \u201cIf you want to know a little bit about a lot of things, mechanical engineering is a good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mechanical engineering Bachelor of Science program started at UW-Stout in the fall of 2015.<\/p>\n

The closest mechanical engineering degree geographically to UW-Stout is the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities. Other UW System schools offering the degree are UW-Platteville, UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. UW-Green Bay was given the green light by the Board of Regents in February to add the degree and expects to accept first-level students in the fall, according to the university\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The degree prepares students for careers involving the design and manufacture of nearly everything, from microscale objects to medical devices and airplanes. Mechanical engineers design new machines, research the latest technology and work in teams with other professionals to convert ideas into real products.<\/p>\n

Devin Berg, program director and associate professor, said the first graduates are students who transferred into UW-Stout or changed majors. Berg said the program meets the demand of regional employers the university partners with and what students were asking for.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Devin Berg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what our graduates do,\u201d Berg said. \u201cThe mechanical engineering field is very broad. I would say they are bridging the gap between our understanding of the world and how we can use that understanding to solve problems that we face as a society.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are 280 students majoring in mechanical engineering, with about 100 more expected to attend next fall. \u201cIt\u2019s grown pretty sharply,\u201d Berg said.<\/p>\n

Professor Tom Lacksonen, engineering and technology department chair, said having the first mechanical engineering graduates means the university can seek accreditation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already the largest program in the department,\u201d Lacksonen sad. \u201cIt\u2019s built up all of our programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the first graduates, he said, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a milestone in our department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduates liked hands-on teaching style<\/h3>\n

The graduates in addition to Monroe are Steven Dillon, Zachary Johnson, Kevin Larson, Jamison Noye and David Zalusky. UW-Stout\u2019s commencement is Saturday, May 5.<\/p>\n

Zalusky, of Appleton, came to UW-Stout after earning a mechanical design associate degree from Fox Valley Technical College. He attended UW-Stout to expand his education and improve his problem-solving skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of hands-on learning,\u201d Zalusky said. \u201cWe learned welding and how to test welds. As long as you like math and problem-solving, mechanical engineering would be your thing to go for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zalusky plans to pursue a master\u2019s in business administration at UW-Oshkosh after graduation.<\/p>\n

Johnson, of Ham Lake, Minn., will work at Cool Air Mechanical in Ham Lake as a project engineer after graduation.<\/p>\n

Johnson was attending North Dakota State University for electrical engineering when he decided to transfer to UW-Stout. \u201cI like working with my hands,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew electrical engineering wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson, of Cumberland, started his college education at Winona State University in composite materials engineering but found it too theoretical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to see how things work,\u201d Larson said of his decision to go into mechanical engineering. \u201cI like to fix things as well. I like to get my hands dirty. I don\u2019t want to have to sit behind a desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson will work at SMC Ltd. in Amery as a manufacturing engineer after graduation. The company makes injection molded medical devices.<\/p>\n

Being the first class in the program has been a great opportunity because students have been asked to provide feedback to improve it, Larson said.<\/p>\n

Noye, of New Richmond, started as a manufacturing engineering major and after two co-ops determined he was more interested in design engineering. \u201c(I) thought a mechanical engineering degree might help me get the type of job I want,\u201d Noye said. \u201cI was already far enough along in the manufacturing engineering program, so I decided to double major in both programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, Noye will work at McNally Industries in Grantsburg as a design engineer. Since 1942, McNally has served the U.S. Department of Defense and is the world\u2019s largest prime contractor with hydromechanical and electromechanical systems as well as complex, precision machined components for defense and aerospace applications.<\/p>\n

Dillon, of Eau Claire, started as a dietetics student at Viterbo University in La Crosse before transferring to UW-Stout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in technical projects,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cThe sky is the limit what you can do with a mechanical engineering degree. It is very, very hands-on. You must be creative. It\u2019s not boring, but it\u2019s not easy. It can be high pressure too. School prepares you for that. It gets you ready for working out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about UW-Stout\u2019s mechanical engineering program visit\u00a0https:\/\/www.uwstout.edu\/programs\/bs-mechanical-engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When he was a teenager growing up in Farmington, Minn., Ryan Monroe loved working with BMX bicycles and found he had a knack for fixing them and optimizing them to improve the ride. After earning an Associate of Arts degree at Inver Hills Community College and then attending Minnesota State College in Mankato for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[90],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-4442","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/4442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=4442"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=4442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}