UNDER THIRTY - Society of Manufacturing Engineers

Brandon KillianAge: 17StudentSantee, CAHigh-school senior Brandon Killian has servedas president for the last two years on hisschool’s FIRST Robotics team, which wonthe Rookie All-Star Award at the FIRST RoboticsSan Diego Regional last year and later advancedto the International competition in St. Louis.After carrying a 4.7 grade-point average at SantanaHigh while taking seven Advanced Placement classes,Brandon was accepted to California Polytechnic StateUniversity in San Luis Obispo, CA, where this fall he willbegin studying engineering. His ultimate goal is to becomea mechanical engineer, with an electronics twist.“I’m thinking about mechatronics, so I can combinea little electrical engineering, too,” Killian said. “I’vebeen wanting to go there [Cal Poly] for a few years,since I found out about it when I was a sophomore.When I got in, I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”The experience with robotics whetted his appetitefor the mechatronics field. “Last year was the first yearthat our school had a team. I was one of the foundingmembers, and we did really well,” Brandon said. “Youget six weeks to build a robot. Last year we had to buildone that could shoot basketballs, and this year we hadto build one that could throw Frisbees. There’s a 120-lbweight limit and all kinds of restrictions. That definitelyplayed a part in my desire for mechatronics. I’m reallyinterested in applying what I learned in my Project Leadthe Way classes to real-world problems.”An Eagle Scout, Brandon currently works part-timeas a cable technician at Shop Floor Automations (LaMesa, CA), a distributor of shop-floor networking solutions.His mom works there as an accountant.“Engineering has been Brandon’s lifelong passion,”wrote Shop Floor Automations Operations ManagerJohn Campbell, who nominated Brandon for 30 Under30. “He has always been interested in figuring outUNDER THIRTYhow things work. As a kid he continually disassembledand reassembled things. When it came time for himto choose what high school to attend, he was drawntowards Santana High School because of the EngineeringProgram offered there, and went through the PLTW[Project Lead The Way] Engineering Pathway there.“He was very inspired by these classes to learnwhat it took to become an engineer, and sought outopportunities to enhance his skills,” Campbell noted.Among his accomplishments, Brandon won thirdplace in the Technical Drafting Competition at theSkillsUSA California State Championships; won BestIn Show at the Del Mar Fair for Technical Drafting;and took first place in the California Chevron DesignChallenge State Championships. “In these competitionshe learned the complexity of solving real-worldproblems, and was further drawn to the idea of becomingan engineer.”Brandon’s involvement in manufacturing goes wellbeyond competitions, Campbell noted, including beingnominated by his teachers to become a student ambassadorfor the Engineering Pathway to help students seesome of opportunities available to them. As studentambassador, Brandon also has visited Sacramento tomeet with state senators and assemblymen promotingtechnical education programs.“Everything that he has done in high school has onlygiven him a sample of what the field of engineering hasto offer and he has complete confidence that becominga mechanical/manufacturing engineer is the careerpath that is right for him,” Campbell said. “Although hehas not been with Shop Floor Automations that long, hehas impressed me since day one as someone who willbe solving the problems of our future and I feel a senseof comfort knowing people like him are coming into thejob market.” METHIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES31 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | July 2013