The Bridge - Issue 1, 2021 - 37

Student Profile

What is the most important thing
you've learned in school?
Make connections. Make sure your professors know
who you are (in a good way). Always be willing to
work with your classmates on homework and in study
groups. The group projects that you'll have to do
during your senior year will be much smoother if you
already know everyone. Being able to communicate
your knowledge to others is what makes you an
engineer instead of a walking encyclopedia.

Zeus Gannon
Gamma Iota Chapter
University of Kansas
Zeus Gannon was born and raised in Florida and
graduated high school in 2007. He spent the next
five years working before he built up the motivation to
go back to school. He chose the University of Kansas
because of its partnership with a local community
college. He earned two associate's degrees while
completing core classes for his bachelor's degree.
Attending the community college also gave him
the opportunity to see if college was something
he wanted to continue. The next three years were
spent at the University of Kansas, where he earned
a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. He was
invited to join HKN in his junior year, an indication
that all his hard work was paying off. He was elected
Chapter President. He graduated in May 2019 and
was chosen as the outstanding senior for the Electrical
Engineering Department. He continued as Chapter
President during his first year of graduate school.
He remains an active member of his Chapter. He also
assists the IEEE-HKN Social Media Subcommittee.
Do you have a best IEEE story to share?
Our Chapter has an awards ceremony called the
Underclassmen Achievement Awards. It recognizes
the top three performers in each of our sophomorelevel Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
(EECS) classes. Planning and executing that event was
one of the most fulfilling experiences I've had with
IEEE-HKN. It felt great to be able to celebrate their
accomplishments with our faculty and their parents.

THE BRIDGE

What advice would you give to other students
entering college and considering studying
your major?
Start with community college if you don't want to
make the immediate commitment to a university.
Don't worry if you're not going to finish an EE degree
in four years. It took me seven years to get mine.
When you get your diploma it doesn't have how long
it took stamped on there.

Gannon teaching a lab for the university's IEEE Student Branch

Why did you choose to study
the engineering field?
My uncle is a mechanical engineer, so I figured
engineering was something I was capable of. I chose
electrical because of my name and I thought it would
be funny. When I started going to college, I didn't
even know what an electrical engineer did. The more I
learned, the more I enjoyed it and became passionate
about it. I'm fascinated by electromagnetics, which is
why I chose to focus on that for my master's degree.
What do you love about engineering?
I love the problem solving involved. I'm the most
engaged in my work when someone gives me a
problem and says, " I don't know how to solve this,
which is why I'm giving it to you. "
What is your dream job?
I would like to be a technical lead in a research lab.
Being President of my local Chapter showed me
how much I enjoy leading a team to a common goal.
Eventually I would like to be a teacher at a community
college to pay forward the excellent education I
received from one.

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President, and a panel of students.

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What made you interested in public
policy/volunteer work?
As someone who's benefited from food pantries run
by volunteers, I feel it's important to give back to
the community.
What is the next BIG advance in engineering?
The next big advancement I hope for is more efficient
power storage. This would enable far more advanced
portable technology.

HKN.ORG

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&referrer=&eventid=2978701&sessionid=1&key=C9902CDDA98C69C209F9C304B400E3E7®Tag=&V2=false&sourcepage=register https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&referrer=&eventid=2978701&sessionid=1&key=C9902CDDA98C69C209F9C304B400E3E7®Tag=&V2=false&sourcepage=register https://hkn.ieee.org/ https://hkn.ieee.org/

The Bridge - Issue 1, 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bridge - Issue 1, 2021