Strong ties endure between Grainger Engineering and ROTC at Illinois

6/7/2019 Heather Coit, The Grainger College of Engineering

Written by Heather Coit, The Grainger College of Engineering

Amid technological advances in both engineering and the U.S. Military, a new generation of young leaders at Illinois combines these programs to meet evolving demands in the Digital Age.

The enduring relationship between The Grainger College of Engineering and ROTC programs continues as 55 engineering students, training as undergraduate cadets (Army and Air Force) and midshipmen (Navy), recently finished the school year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Molly Hein and [MechSE undergraduate] Ryan Nixon, both ROTC cadets, represent this crop of students and explain, with Lt. Daniel Meaney, USN, a graduate student in MechSE and assistant professor of naval science, how their combined interest in science and the military led them to two prestigious programs at Illinois. Joe Rank (’69 Media, MS ’73 Media), a retired U.S. Navy commander who once taught Navy ROTC midshipmen at Illinois, shares the two programs’ established history and why those ties are relevant today.

Read the whole story on The Grainger College of Engineering website.
 

“MechSE teaches important skills, like time management and problem solving; important skills that would cross over for a pilot in the Air Force.”
--Ryan Nixon, Mechanical Science and Engineering, '22

Ryan Nixon, who recently finished his freshman year enrolled in Mechanical Science and Engineering, pairs up with a fellow Air Force ROTC cadet for early morning physical training (PT) at the UI Armory earlier during spring semester.
Ryan Nixon, who recently finished his freshman year enrolled in Mechanical Science and Engineering, pairs up with a fellow Air Force ROTC cadet for early morning physical training (PT) at the UI Armory earlier during spring semester.

 

“The Navy offers the ability for an engineer to be on the front lines of science; to change the scope of today’s warfare capabilities.”
--Lt. Daniel Meaney, assistant professor of naval science and graduate student in mechanical science and engineering.

 

 

 

Photo, at top of page:  Lt. Daniel Meaney, USN, assistant professor in Naval Science, teaches his Naval Weapon Systems (NS 306) class at the UI Armory during spring semester. The class provides students with the principles of weapons deployment, both offensive and defensive; as well as teaching the theory behind challenges presented to the warfighter, using physics, chemistry, electronics, and cyber.


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This story was published June 7, 2019.