Robert Grogan Outstanding Junior

Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Junior

June 18, 2007 - Robert Grogan is majoring in electrical engineering, with an emphasis in control systems and a minor in mathematics. He is currently the vice president of the Wyoming student branch of IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is active in Tau Beta Pi, and served as a peer assistant for a freshman engineering class last fall. He also plays trombone for the Western Thunder Marching Band and the UW Pep Band.

Grogan values internships and research as highlights during his undergraduate education, and has obtained some amazing opportunities. Currently he is researching with Dr. John O’Brien, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, on how to control flexible structures in space when they are subjected to external impedances, such as when a robot docks to a satellite. Last summer he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he tested op-amps that will be used on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which launches in 2009. In addition, he interned with Drives & Controls Services, a company that upgrades the electronics in Wyoming coalmine shovels and draglines. He plans to attend graduate school after he completes his undergraduate degree.