Ryan Kobbe grew up in Farson, Wyoming. He received his B.S. in architectural engineering from UW in 2003 and his M.S. in civil engineering from Washington State University in 2005. Prior to joining UW College of Engineering and Applied Science, he worked for Structural Solutions in Casper, Wyoming and then for Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Ryan’s duties as a part of the CSS, where he serves as an assistant lecturer , include a variety of tasks that can be categorized into four primary job functions: employment services, academic advising, administration services and instruction.

For employment services, Ryan provides leadership in the College's career development program including internship and permanent employment opportunities. To ensure our students are well positioned in today’s job market, he works to inform, engage, and encourage students to be self-directed in their career planning and development. In addition to planning and implementing placement programs, he also seeks to continuously recruit and strengthen the College’s connection with our corporate partners. In the end, Ryan acts as a liaison between students and employers.

Ryan’s academic advising responsibilities focus on transfer students and students who have yet to declare a major in the College. He also participates in freshman orientation, transfer student orientation and advising, registration support and power group scheduling.

A variety of administrative services are performed by Ryan, including maintaining student databases, collecting and reporting key statistics (e.g., U.S. News and World Report’s survey of America’s Best Engineering Schools and ASEE’s survey of Engineering Technology Colleges), processing teaching evaluations and assessment surveys, developing advising and recruiting materials, and planning and conducting events.

Ryan teaches nominally three courses per year, principally in engineering science. He also works with other CSS team members to coordinate College-wide effort to develop student oral communication skills (including oral presentations, negotiation, interactive skills, participation in teams, and communication with a variety of audiences).