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Rear Adm. Brendan McLane

Rear Adm. Brendan McLane is visiting CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science today to talk with Dean Bobby Braun and other staff about the need for talented engineers in the modern U.S. Navy.

McLane is the commander at the Navy Recruiting Command. He previously served at the U.S. Naval Academy and was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army’s 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, among other duties. He most recently served as the chief of staff for the Surface Forces Pacific.

William Doe, a college staff member and adviser for the campus Society of American Military Engineers chapter, said the visit was specifically to talk about recruiting students He said the visit pairs well with a number of other efforts by the college to engage with veteran and ROTC student groups on campus.

“There is a high demand for technically competent officers in all of the military branches – especially from the STEM disciplines,” said Doe, an Army veteran. “That’s because future conflicts in this technical age will heavily use artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and autonomous systems among other engineering disciplines.” 

Doe said the growth in engineering on campus, active engagement for students with military connections and a focus on research important to national defense goals has put the college “on the radar” for military recruitment in ways that it may not have been before. 

The college boasts 102 students with veteran status – 29 graduate students and 73 undergraduate students. By department, mechanical engineering leads the way in that category with 13 undergrads, while Smead Aerospace claims 12. There are six active duty service men and women seeking graduate degrees at the college as well.

The college also started the Society of American Military Engineers chapter this year to engage with students that have a connection to the military or are exploring various career paths. The group hosts guest speakers, helps with professional development and offers a chance for networking. The next meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in the Gallogly Discovery Learning Center. The guest speaker will be Heather Bain, of Amazon Web Services in Seattle. A U.S. Army combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan, she is a Talent Operations Manager for Amazon Web Services.

Chapter President Bridger Vallin, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said SAME hosted a recruiting visit from Northrup Grumman this semester, among other activities. A sophomore in mechanical engineering, Vallin said he entered that field thanks to mentorship from a commanding officer who was trained in mechanical engineering.

“I was impressed with his ability to break apart problems to find effective and intuitive solutions. I was pushed further down the path to mechanical engineering after he explained all of the potential industries that I could work in,” he said.  

Doe said the relationship between the college and student veterans, as well as other students interested in civilian or military careers in national defense, would continue to grow and expand, particularly in coursework.

“We have a course next semester entitled Designing for Defense through the Military District 5 program, which offers an opportunity for students to work on real-world national security problems in close collaboration with Department of Defense personnel and agencies,” Doe said. “It’s a great opportunity for students inside and out of the college.”