Hometown: Springfield, Illinois

Current year: Senior

Tyler is a cadet in the Purdue Army ROTC.

Why I chose Civil Engineering

I’ve always liked science and history all the way through high school. After choosing to come to Purdue, I knew I wanted to focus more on the science side and engineering appealed to me the most. My freshmen year, I took a civil engineering seminar, led by Prof. Rao Govindaraju, head of the Lyles School of Civil Engineering. In it, he spoke about the different paths a civil engineer could take and the opportunities available to civil engineers around the world. After that seminar, I was sure civil engineering was perfect for me.

Emphasis area

My emphasis area is in structures. I’ve always had an interest in history and ancient structures as well as all that goes in to making modern structures. It’s always been interesting to me that we walk through and utilize so many different buildings — especially on campus — every day and we never even think about just how much work went into them.

Tyler has completed hundreds of hours of training in both the U.S. and in Europe.

Purdue ROTC

In addition to being a civil engineering student, I am also a Purdue Army ROTC Cadet. Joining the U.S. Army is something I have dreamed of doing for some time now and the program has well prepared me for when I commission after I graduate. In my four years as an ROTC Cadet at Purdue, I’ve been able to participate in a lot of training including Advanced Camp where I had the opportunity to lead a platoon of 36 Cadets.

After I graduate

After I graduate in May, I will commission into the U.S. Army as an Infantry Officer. So, I’ll go into Infantry Basic Officer Leadership School and then Army Ranger school. For now, I plan to see how things go from there and keep my options open. I can earn my Professional Engineering license through the army and I know the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also an option I am very much interested in later in my career.

Tyler is part of the senior design team tasked to design upgrades to an Illinois baseball park.