Richard Rigby

Richard Rigby loves to unravel mysteries — an inclination that lured him into studying electrical engineering.

“I was absolutely fascinated with the scope of electrical engineering,” Rigby says. “Electronics are found to some degree in every industry, and it felt empowering to study in a field with so much application and variety.”

Motivation also came from the opportunities to take deep dives into the intricate inner workings of so many electronic devices, components and systems.  

Rigby found additional fulfillment in helping others to learn and succeed. He considers one of the biggest achievements of his college years the mentoring he provided to dozens of fellow students in more than three years working for the Fulton Schools Career Center as a peer career coach

Helping those students find internships and jobs “has been such a rewarding experience that I will treasure for a long time to come,” he says.

Rigby also worked as a volunteer for the Pitchfork Pantry, which strives to prevent food insecurity among ASU students. Through his membership in Tau Beta Pi, the engineer honor society, he also helped to lead events to teach K-12 students about the fundamentals of engineering.

Those mentoring and volunteer activities helped to earn Rigby the Impact Award for his contributions to the ASU and the  Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering communities.

He credits his own success as a student to efforts of Fulton Schools Professor Richard King.

“I spent hours asking him countless questions,” Rigby says. “By being there for me and patiently explaining things, he enriched my understanding of many difficult electrical engineering concepts. Because of Dr. King, I felt more confident and excited to be an electrical engineer.”

Rigby helped himself advance with support for his college studies from a Transfer Achievement Award, ASAP-METS Scholarship, a Pell Grant and a University Grant, as well as a Daniel Zusman Scholarship, an ON Semiconductor Scholarship, a Texas Instruments Scholarship and a Gary & Diane Tooker Scholarship.

He made the dean’s list each semester and will graduate with summa cum laude honors. He also completed two internships with a hardware development team at the multinational technology corporation Microsoft. In the spring, Rigby will begin a full-time role at Microsoft.

“I’m looking forward to spending the next few years building high-performance computing devices,” Rigby says. “But I eventually want to get an MBA to expand my skills on the business side of engineering.”

Read about other exceptional graduates of the Fulton Schools’ fall 2020 class here.