Kellen Rogers

When or how did you become interested in engineering?

I always liked buildings and structures for as long as I could remember. All my childhood toys were based around building, designing and drawing. In high school, I also developed a love for the environment, sustainable design, and solutions to many problems facing the world. Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be in the engineering field. Exploring the classes and extracurriculars at Drexel led me to architectural engineering.

When you were looking at colleges, what made Drexel stand out?

Drexel stood out to me for two main reasons – the location and the co-op program. I wanted a school in the city as I grew up in the suburbs, and I also wanted to remain close to family. The city offered the perfect opportunity to explore somewhere totally different from where I grew up with easy access to home. Drexel was also one of the few schools that offer the co-op program, which I knew would benefit me more in the long run as opposed to a typical college experience.

How did the co-op program impact you?

My most recent co-op at PlanB Engineering provided me with the most experience in the engineering field I would like to pursue. The company does very individualized and obscure bracing and structural stability jobs in Manhattan, which requires critical thinking and in-depth engineering skills that I was able to develop far beyond what I was learning in class at the time. It really prepared me for my senior year and senior design. It also showed me career areas I previously didn’t consider as a position I would like.

What experiential learning opportunities have you had?

Junior and senior design in the architectural engineering major provided the opportunity for my group of AE students to design two separate buildings from scratch – this required the full grasp of everyone’s skills to deliver a building. These projects are exciting as they allow for creativeness and design that encapsulate everything we have learned in class and over co-op. I appreciate these experiences as they help prepare for what you may see in your career after Drexel

What extracurricular groups are you in, and what value do they bring to students?

I joined the Honor Fraternity – Phi Sigma Pi – my freshman year at Drexel University. I wanted to be involved somehow in the Drexel community to make more friends outside of my dorm. I never expected it to have such an impact on my time at Drexel. Phi Sigma Pi allowed me to discover the major I wanted to pursue through fellow members, meet people outside of my major, and stay involved with Drexel community when on co-op or during the pandemic. I highly recommend joining Phi Sigma Pi...it is a gender-inclusive, very diverse group of people that provide activities and experiences to enhance student life.