Electrical Engineering
Contact Information
- Hometown: Sevierville, TN
- E-mail: wtrout@vols.utk.edu
- LinkedIn Profile
Biography
I grew up right outside Pigeon Forge, TN with parents who always encouraged me to be open-minded and to cultivate diverse interests. A childhood spent in the Great Smoky Mountains and a grandfather in the National Park Service built a deep appreciation for the outdoors and a passion for conservation very early. My family’s close involvement with the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts helped teach me the value of artistic expression and guided me to develop my interest in writing. Due to my own interests and my father’s medical career, I began to explore science and mathematics. Once I became a student at UT, I realized the vast range of opportunities in electrical engineering and I decided that this field would provide a perfect opportunity to make a sustainable impact on the world. The Heath IBEP program appealed to me because I knew it would help me develop networking skills and give me opportunities to learn more about business. I want to put my enthusiasm for sustainability, my interest in writing, and the technical skills I’ve developed before and during college to good use in industry; the coursework and mentors provided by the IBEP program are helping me accomplish that goal. Group projects have been one of the most beneficial parts of these classes so far. Getting to work in interdisciplinary groups helps me to improve my listening skills and to provide technical information and suggestions in a way that’s most useful for the Project. My career interests are wide-ranging and I aim to explore as much as I can. I’m a quick learner and I want to seek opportunities where I see potential to make a positive difference. I have worked with engineering professors and mentors to find a few fields that most interest me sustainable power generation/transfer, radio-frequency engineering, cybersecurity, and IOT development. My career objective is to learn about sustainability in these or other industries and to eventually own a business where I can help companies improve their ecological footprint.
