Geek of the Week, Kevyn Young, Junior, Mechanical Engineering

Many Mines students feel as if they are walking into Mordor as they trudge on in their studies. Unlike most students, Kevyn Young enjoys the engineering life and motivates himself by being involved on campus. He keeps a balance by enjoying his life outside of school while still maintaining his studies in an efficient manner. To find out his secrets, “The Oredigger” sat down with Young for this week’s “Geek of the Week.”

[Oredigger]: What do you do in your spare time?
[Young]: Play too many video games. I’m playing Skyrim, FIFA, and Minecraft now. I surf the web too much, Skype with my girlfriend, and play music.

What did you think of “The Hobbit?”
Oh my goodness! It was fantastic! I mean it wasn’t exactly in line with the book at all parts, but it was really well done and I think it was a really good movie. I’m really excited for the music to come out so I can add to my collection of Lord of the Rings extended movie scores.

Would you say you are a geek and is there a difference between a geek and a nerd?
Yes. I don’t really think there’s a difference. People can fall into either category.

Why did you decide to come to Mines?
It’s a good school, and I was at the point where I was deciding between CU and Mines. Mines is a little bit farther from home and I also liked the atmosphere better.

What’s your favorite thing about Mines?
Pretty much all of it, surprisingly. Well, the people are really awesome. There are a lot of cool people and they all are focused on the same thing which is unique and nice because you know a lot more people as a result. Talking to normal people is not fun. I’ve really had fun with different professors. The different classes I’ve had with some of them have been really good.

Who would be your favorite professor? Favorite class?
Knecht is pretty awesome, and I love Dr. Steele. Robotics has probably been my favorite class so far.

If you could change one thing about Mines, what would it be?
The hills.

Why mechanical and what do you want to do with it?
I like mechanical engineering because you get to work with things that actually move. As a computer science minor, I want to do robotics. Post-graduation I want to go to grad school, potentially getting my doctorate. I don’t know where yet.

What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
We made a working heart rate monitor in EPICS II. That was fun, and it’s still kind of going on.

Who is better, Batman or Iron Man?
I’m going to say Iron Man, because he can actually fly.

Do you have advice for Mines students?
Find people to study with. It makes it less painful and more fun. And also don’t procrastinate because long nights are never a good thing the day after.

Do you have a favorite quote?
“You shall not pass!!!” – Gandalf
Because Gandalf is awesome.