Alexander Owen

Alexander Owen says he was full of nerves when he arrived on the Arizona State University campus four years ago to attend E2 alongside his fellow first-year Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering students.

“Everyone around me seemed 10 times smarter than I was, or they were interested in things I had never heard of,” Owen says. “However, the second I met my group, that all changed.”

He says that group became his family at ASU and he is still friends with many of them to this day.

“Looking back, I am not only very lucky to have chosen civil engineering, but I am beyond blessed to have met the people I did,” Owen says. “My four years here have helped me change from a nervous little freshman to an excited, motivated, confident engineering graduate.”

In addition to his peers, Owen says his professors were important in helping him succeed. He says Regents Professor Edward Kavazanjian and industry mentor Greg Rodzenko helped direct his long-term involvement with Engineers Without Borders. When his experience with the organization had to evolve due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Owen worked with his mentors to organize a virtual competition for middle and high school students.

“Seeing younger students display such a passion for the STEM field was incredible,” Owen says. “It helped to rekindle my own passion for engineering, especially amid the virtual chaos.”

Owen was also named an Emerging Student Leader in 2020 at the Pitchfork Awards, and in the Engineering Projects in Community Service program, better known as EPICS, he earned first or second place three semesters in a row at the EPICS Generator Awards.

“As someone who is an Arizona native, enacting change for the betterment of this community would be an incredible experience for me, and I hope to get an opportunity to do so,” Owen says. 

Looking ahead, he says he has plans to return to ASU in the fall and finish his graduate studies in civil engineering as part of the 4+1 accelerated master’s degree program. Then he says he wants to become a bridge engineer and possibly explore structural forensics.

“My main goal is to just enjoy what I am doing,” Owen says. “I went to school to have a career where I would be excited and challenged by what I do, and I will work to have those two things fulfilled.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ Spring 2022 class here.