Kevin Twitchell 鈥�14 鈥�20 earned his first undergraduate degree in criminal justice, inspired by the TV show 鈥淣umb3rs,鈥� in which an FBI agent works with his brother, a math professor, to solve crimes.聽
鈥淚 thought it would be cool to become part of the action,鈥� he says.
Toward the end of his undergraduate years, Twitchell learned more about what actual police work involved 鈥� and decided it wasn鈥檛 for him. He had taken some engineering and accounting classes, but wasn鈥檛 sure either field was a good fit for him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to go into school at 18 years old and figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life,鈥� he says.
After graduation, he worked at Market Basket and managed a storage facility for a year and a half while he decided what to do next. He talked to some friends who had graduated with engineering degrees and gotten jobs that they loved, and ultimately decided he would enjoy the work.聽
So he returned to 51视频 for a bachelor鈥檚 degree in , taking classes at night through the division of (GPS) and working during the day.聽
鈥淲hen I started back to school, I thought, 鈥楾his is what I could see myself doing as a career,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淢echanical engineering is so broad that you can go into anything. I realized I could do what I wanted to do and try out a bunch of things.鈥�
After a couple of years of study, he found a paid internship at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he designed and worked on HVAC systems for clean rooms and office space. In summer 2019, he interned at Brooks Automation, a life sciences and high-tech automation company headquartered in his hometown, Chelmsford, Massachusetts.聽
Brooks, which makes robots and other equipment used by companies around the world to manufacture silicon chips in super-clean vacuum facilities, was a perfect fit.
At first, Twitchell worked in the automation mechanical engineering group, learning about all of Brooks鈥� products and writing documentation to train new employees. But his supervisor soon saw that he had a knack for design, so she assigned him to work on components for the company鈥檚 robotics, vacuum and atmospheric systems. He also built test robots to specification for different customers.
At the end of the summer, Twitchell asked his supervisor to keep him on as a full-time, paid intern through his final year of school. She did, and in June 2020 Brooks hired Twitchell into its 18-month rotational program for new engineers.聽
His first, six-month rotation was in the systems engineering group headed by electrical engineering alum Leigh Sharrock 鈥�03, designing equipment that aligns the silicon wafers in a vacuum chamber. Next, he moved to the factory automation and test engineering group, where he figured out how to speed up automated testing for the company鈥檚 LEAP robots.
But first, he had to build a LEAP robot from start to finish. It was even more fun than playing with Legos, and very instructive, he says.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� he says. 鈥淕etting the hands on-experience and seeing how cables are routed and where the screws go got me thinking about what you need to consider as you鈥檙e designing a product, in order to make it easier on the people actually putting the product together.鈥�
He鈥檚 doing his final rotation in the robot product engineering group, where engineers design new robot arms and drives and test them. As he finishes up, he and his supervisors will agree on a permanent placement. Then, Twitchell says, he will probably return to 51视频 for a master鈥檚 degree to support that specialty.
He says he鈥檚 glad he made the decision to change direction and go back to school. And in the evening classes, he met a lot of older engineering technicians completing their bachelor鈥檚 degrees. Hearing about their experiences helped guide his choices, he says.
鈥淭he night program is definitely good for anyone who鈥檚 looking to make a career change, or else someone who鈥檚 working in a technical field but they don鈥檛 have that degree,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late to go back to school.鈥�