“In high school, I really liked math and science,” says Mac, “and I thought about being a pilot.  So for my undergrad, I chose aerospace engineering.”  While a student at the University of Tennessee, he heard about a Purdue program called SURF: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.  SURF allows undergraduates from across the country to spend the summer doing real-world research with Purdue professors.

Arriving at Purdue for the summer-long program, Mac was blown away.  “It was an eye-opening experience,” he says.  “The facilities they had were out of this world. The whole campus and the vibe you got was something I had never experienced before.  It kind of transformed the way I looked at engineering.”

Mac teamed up with Monika Ivantysynova, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Maha Fluid Power Research Center, the largest academic hydraulics lab in the country.  With 15,000 square feet of testing space, Maha students work on everything from skid-steer loaders and tractors to cranes and forklifts.  “From the first day I got there, she was very welcoming,” remembers Mac.  “My experience with her was so great.  She wanted me to come back immediately, and I said I had to graduate first!”

After graduating, Mac enrolled full-time at Purdue as a Master’s student, working on hydraulic control systems with Dr. Ivantysynova (who passed away in 2018).  “We worked on hybrid hydraulic vehicles,” says Mac, “especially long-life vehicles like mail trucks and garbage trucks, where hydraulic systems can save energy.”

So how did he go from trash trucks to aerospace?  “While at Purdue I went to a job fair,” remembers Mac, “and ran into these guys from Dynetics.  They were kind different than the other places I interviewed.  I came down here and really liked it.”

Dynetics is an aerospace company based in Huntsville, Alabama, specializing in solutions for NASA and the Defense Department.  Huntsville, often called “Rocket City,” hosts numerous aerospace companies and thousands of engineers from across the country. They also have another unique pull: an oasis of Boilermakers in Alabama.  “There are a wealth of Purdue engineers already here,” says Mac, “so it’s been a perfect fit for me!”

“Working at Dynetics is amazing, because you can do so many things,” says Mac.  “At Purdue I was doing hardware-in-the-loop simulations, and so I did that here as well.  Now the control systems I worked on with hydraulics are being put to work for aerospace guidance and navigation.”

Mac says that mechanical engineering at Purdue was the right choice for him.  “It’s kind of like a Swiss Army Knife,” he says.  “You learn about a lot of different areas, which can be applied in a bunch of different ways.  I was doing hydraulics, and now I’m doing controls for aerospace vehicles.  Purdue gave me the tools I needed to be successful.” 

Writer: Jared Pike, jaredpike@purdue.edu, 765-496-0374