Alumni

Testimonies from our Alumni

  • "Troubleshooting and debugging can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming components of engineering any novel embedded system or algorithm.  The Engineering Physics program provides students with ample opportunities and just the right amount of guidance to self-learn critical hardware/software debugging techniques.  The hands-on approach focus in lab to mastering embedded systems design and automation provided skills that were immediately useful for getting a brand new lab up and running."   - Reed Gurchiek '18
  • "This program has amazing teachers and well-structured courses that go beyond delivering the technical content; they train you to be an efficient problem solver.  This program develops a variety of major skillsets simultaneously, which not only provided a wide selection of careers to choose from when I graduated, it made my experience in the program more exciting." - Mary Clements '18
  • "The Engineering Physics program has given me a sense of accomplishment and confidence that has gone a long way for me in the corporate-engineering world and helped me advance my career.  I push this program every day even though I live 3000+ miles away.  My educational experience still holds with me every day - I reference projects, teachers, classes, and experiences regularly." - Scott Rodesiler '18
  • "This program allowed me the knowledge and tools to pursue a career in automation seriously, and the fun the professors have with the lessons were inspiring." - Alfred Scher '17
  • "I wouldn't trade my time at the ASU Physics and Astronomy department for the world!  I am still filled with wonder and awe at what I learned with this program."  - Lelyn Masters '16
  • "The Engineering Physics program has helped me have a broad-spectrum education in software and hardware.  Working in industrial automation, there's firmware programming, hardware design/wiring, and software work.  It helps to have a diverse education and be very versatile to pick up new tasks and skills quickly.  It's led me to be one of the employees at my company that can jump around between all different types of control technologies and software projects and be a successful part of the team." - Nikolai Hesterberg '16
  • "I was an undergraduate at Appalachian State University and liked it so much I decided to come back for their Systems and Laboratory Automation Engineering Physics master's concentration.  I was not disappointed.  The Engineering Physics master's program was phenomenal.  The instructors are friendly, approachable, intelligent, articulate, and qualified.  They care about you.  The student population when I was there was priceless and friendly.  It was very much a community.  The program is superior at exposing you to the material and giving you the opportunity to learn hands-on.  It also helped give me cognitive tools for success and how to think about problems.  It is a good and fun degree for anyone who likes science, physics, programming, interfacing, and solving problems.  I would still be there if I could.  For me, the best strength of this degree is that you can learn to learn anything." - Z. P. '16
  • "The Engineering Physics master's program taught me both individual skills (coding, calibrating sensors, diagraming and diagnosing circuitry, operating a Scanning Electron Microscope  etc.) as well as a strong set of generalizable problem-solving and communication abilities that have been invaluable to me in my career.  As far as what I have observed of other members of my cohort, I can confidently say that graduates have skills that are both very hirable, as well as imbuing them with critical thinking and communication skills that leave them more well-rounded individuals as a whole." - Sam Volstad '16
  • "The PSM program at Appalachian State is a unique, diverse, and caring community where faculty focus on developing the best engineers possible.  From my experience, graduates come out of the program highly competitive and I have not found more reliable graduates out of any other program in North Carolina. Personally, the experience I earned and mentoring I received allowed me to immediately outperform engineers in the automation industry.  The additional MBA exposure and holistic approach to problem solving gives me an edge when discussing valuable topics with customer ownership as well as planning the future for my current company.   My work at App State allowed me to accelerate my career, and I'm excited for any chance we get to interview another mountaineer." - Ty Rinholm '14
  • "The Engineering Physics program opened up opportunities and possibilities that led me to a place of creative freedom in the automation industry.  I am now able to participate in pushing technology forward and making the data collection and analysis process more streamlined and accessible to researchers." - Jenni Meyer '14

  • "Bar none, the best value for the money in setting students on a firm path for a technical career in any number of organizations.  I learned the fundamentals of computing and electronics which underpins much of modern society.   This base-line knowledge has allowed me to better understand and more quickly assimilate a range of topics in my field of telecommunication network technologies that extends into networking gear and electronics and prevailing communication protocols at a more fundamental level of understanding beyond my peers." - Paul Tyma '13
  • "The Engineering Physics master's program set me up to be very successful at National Instruments.  I chose the Professional Science Master's route which helped me bridge the divide between business and science/engineering.  This set me apart from my peers and has accelerated my career in industry."   - Josh Brehm '12

  • “The Engineering Physics program at ASU gave me an excellent foundation on which to build my technical skills.  The focus on real-world troubleshooting of circuits and software applications, as well as the emphasis on ‘learning on the fly,’ has been crucial to my success as a controls engineer in an R&D environment, where the task at hand changes daily, and the requirements are a constantly moving target.”  - Anna Morris '10