Dear friends and partners of Marquette Engineering,
I am excited to share another issue of Marquette Engineer and these inspirational stories of our Marquette engineering students, faculty, staff, alumni and collaborators. This special digest showcases how our Marquette engineers ignite curiosity and creativity to lead bold change.
The celebration of these stories coincides nicely with the first month of our new academic year — a time when my colleagues and I get to see the growth and transformation of students since we last had them in our classrooms.
Students have a habit of returning to Marquette with newly discovered passions, talents, confidence and visions for their futures. As educators, we hope their technical learning continues to build on itself, but admittedly, the greater joy this time of year always comes from seeing the ungradable growth of their hearts and souls.
It is a reminder that our humanity is blanketed over our work as engineers, students, mentors and beyond, guiding us to build relationships and serve together.
In one of these stories, we see a man who finds connection between his rural, diesel-fueled upbringing and his talents as a mechanical engineering researcher. An expert in his field, Dr. Adam Dempsey’s work can change our economy, infrastructure and environment, and it is all traceable back to his own experiences.
In another story, we see a group of students who are transformed by service and community in Marquette’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Each of these students is an individual with a unique background and vision for the future, but through their collective service they are connected to one another, to the communities they serve, and even to the students who came years before them.
In another story, we meet a student leader at Marquette who is embracing the discernment process of who she wants to become and where to invest her talents and energy. It is not a simple path, and she is drawn to many open doors for her future — a challenging but wonderful position to be in. This student is striving for technical excellence, but her greatest growth is that of the heart.
Please join me in celebrating these stories and supporting our Ignatian-inspired engineers! And as you continue to lead, mentor and teach engineers, I hope you consider how you might best support the growth of their hearts and souls alongside their technical achievements.
With gratitude,
Dr. Kristina Ropella
Opus Dean
Opus College of Engineering
