Major: Mechanical Engineering
Class: 1997
Tell us about your career as a yacht designer.
I create the drawings, computer models and calculations necessary for others to build the boats. I do have boatbuilding experience, as I worked as the design engineer at a yacht-builder called Island Packet Yachts in Largo, Florida prior to starting my own business. During my time there we built approximately 200 oceangoing sailing yachts from 37 to 52 feet.
How did your degree from MSOE prepare you for your career?
Yacht design is a multi-faceted discipline requiring a full range of engineering, aesthetic, practical and regulatory considerations. A mechanical engineering degree provides a base of technical knowledge needed in this creative cocktail.
What advice do you have for students considering MSOE?
MSOE is a tightly-focused place where you'll get a substantive technical education. Take advantage of the fact that professors have industry experience and use the labs to their full potential. And look around; there's a lot to enjoy within walking distance of the campus if you live in the dorms or near the school.
What did you like about MSOE?
I enjoyed the size and setting of the campus, the one-on-one dialogue with professors and the opportunity to learn so much about how the principles of physics, chemistry and engineering are closely interrelated.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to open their own business?
If you do what you love, there's little "work" involved. But be prepared to "work without a net," because with the freedom and opportunity of having one's own business comes a responsibility to keep your business growing. If you have ambition, passion and a service or product that you believe the market will flock to, go for it!