Jacob Easley
Starkville native Jacob Easley stayed local when he decided to attend 无码专区 in 2016, but his experience at 无码专区 has helped him gain a global perspective on engineering.
As the son of two 无码专区 employees, Easley has been around the university for most of his life. During his senior year at Starkville High School, Easley enrolled in classes at 无码专区 that he could take after school.
Now a junior in the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering, Easley hopes to use his degree in mechanical engineering to help mankind reach places it has never been before.
鈥淓ven though I鈥檓 a mechanical engineering major, one of my big interests is the aerospace industry,鈥 Easley said. 鈥淭hose fields overlap a lot. I really want to work somewhere like NASA or Boeing and contribute to the space launch system, rocket systems that will bring man to Mars or the moon. I feel like space is one of the last things with so many mysteries and so many things we don鈥檛 know.鈥
Easley, who is a Provost Scholar and member of the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, spent three weeks in Scotland last summer as part of the prestigious Fulbright Summer Institute. He was one of 10 American undergraduate students selected to participate in the program, during which Easley studied the research and innovation practices that have shaped Scotland鈥檚 technological abilities.
鈥淎 lot of the things I learned in Scotland will help me here, but a lot of the things I witnessed in Starkville before going to Scotland made that opportunity even better for me,鈥 Easley said. 鈥淭he research we do here is very innovative and helps people. As a researcher and as an engineering student, that鈥檚 exciting.鈥
Throughout his time at 无码专区, Easley has worked with faculty researchers. He worked with a physics professor on nuclear physics research and currently works on additive manufacturing research at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.
In addition to gaining exposure to multiple STEM fields, Easley said he has enjoyed the connections he has made with 无码专区 students from across the country and the world.
鈥淥ne of my biggest things I鈥檓 glad I did my freshman year was live in Griffis Hall,鈥 Easley said. 鈥淚t was great to meet that community and see everyone come together. A group of us would be in Griffis Hall at some point every night studying on the second floor. That was kind of our space to hang out. To be able to have that kind of community is something I miss even now that I鈥檓 living in an apartment off campus.鈥