Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

Ryan Rotsching felt his passion for engineering wane after his first year, but support from UD alumni and friends helped him relight his fire and find interest by bridging engineering and entrepreneurship.

Rotsching, a sophomore in engineering, was one of four students who participated in the Innovation Center's first summer engineering innovation program, which was supported by donors of the School of Engineering Dean's Fund for Excellence on One Day, One Dayton. The program provided an immersive internship for the students in innovation and entrepreneurship before their sophomore year.

"Before this experience, I hadn't even considered entrepreneurship," Rotsching said. "I just thought if I do engineering, I go straight into working for a company and do that my whole life, not start a company or bring my own products to market. I was questioning if engineering is really what I want to do with my life, if I enjoy this enough and if I am going to be good enough to be able to do this professionally. And then, once I did this program, it solidified that this is the right path for me."

Summer was full of opportunities as students in ETHOS immersions applied, grew and honed their engineering skills while consciously serving communities across the world. Experiences for 55 students were supported by donors to the Dean's Fund for Excellence during One Day, One Dayton.

Alexandra Cline, a senior in engineering, set aside money to participate in an international ETHOS immersion and hoped it would be enough. Thanks to donor support, she didn't have to worry long. Cline completed her immersion in Quito, Ecuador this summer with Engineers in Action providing the surrounding communities with long-term, thoughtful and culturally-aware engineering.

"Going on the immersion on top of the other things I've done on campus has helped me grow as a person and find my path," Cline said. "ETHOS helped me learn to be a leader. I liked it so much I now work at the center and am applying for the UD Master of Public Administration program to continue human rights in engineering work."

Support also happens throughout the school year. In the Multi-Ethnic Engineers Program, where students explore and grow in their field while building community, 30 students received scholarships, too.

Tyrone Smith Jr. is a junior studying engineering and MEP scholarship recipient from Atlanta who is involved with a number of local and national student organizations in addition to working as a School of Engineering Student Ambassador to help guide prospective students and their families. He's looking forward to starting a co-op with Messer Construction this spring, but this involvement is only afforded to him thanks to scholarships and financial support.

"It allows me to keep coming back to UD year after year," Smith said of the scholarship. "It's meaningful — it allows me to be involved on campus and not have to lose focus on my education because of finances."

The flickers of inspiration and lifting of financial burdens are jumping-off points that help students define who they are and what mark they will leave on the world. Thanks to donors of the School of Engineering Dean's Fund for Excellence on One Day, One Dayton, students across the school are having these life-changing opportunities.