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Alumni Success
Principal Mechanical Engineer Conrad Vogel, '95 and 2005, is helping us scan worlds beyond with his work on the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
Degrees from UNL: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, 1995; M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, 2005
"I am currently employed as a Principal Mechanical Engineer at the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory on Mount Graham in Arizona. It is one of the largest telescopes in the world.
The scale of engineering is staggering in many ways. The structure alone, built at 10,500 feet above sea level on a remote mountaintop, presented many engineering challenges. It is a tall building with doors that open to expose the mirrors to the sky. These doors make up much of one wall and the roof of the structure is mobile. The entire building rotates with the telescope on giant bogies and circular rails.
Construction of the telescope itself, and the mirrors that make it work, was a substantial international undertaking. The mirrors were from Arizona, structure to hold them was from Italy, and the instrumentation came from Germany.
At UNL, I took as many classes and electives as I could fit into my schedule. I even minored in a foreign language at a time when the college didn’t recognize minors. While not a stellar student, I worked hard and tried to become thoroughly involved in the courses I took and always asked questions in class and office hours.
When I secured my first engineering job after graduation, I think it helped that my transcript showed classes that were not strictly included in the curriculum for an engineering major. Perhaps it suggested to my future employers that I was “well-rounded”. I remain convinced that it was the little things on my resume and transcript that helped in this regard.
The education that I received from UNL has opened many doors for me. The range of opportunities available at UNL is quite broad. From the engineering co-op program to studying abroad through the program with affiliated universities overseas (I spent a year at Aberdeen University in Scotland), it’s remarkable what UNL has to offer to those interested in taking advantage of it."