Michael is an adventurist who discovered his love of all things STEM during his youth. Having grown up in Silicon Valley, as a Boy Scout, he spent most of his weekends earning merit badges, learning problem solving, camping and practicing leadership. There is nothing Michael loves more than adventuring into the woods and roughing it for a few days. He enjoyed these activities so deeply as a child that it has extended into his daily life. He has always wondered how things worked and that curiosity led him to pursue Mechanical Engineering as his undergraduate degree.
Introducing the very talented Michael Bennett:
• 22-year-old graduate student in the M.S. in Management program at UNC Charlotte
• Recent graduate from UNC Charlotte where he completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in motorsports
• Enjoys mountain biking, hiking, hammocking, frisbee and attending as many concerts as his wallet will allow
As a part-time job, Michael is currently a graduate assistant with one of his engineering mentors. He enjoys working on new, groundbreaking projects that will eventually trickle down into the industry to secure certain areas and improve life for people in ways that they could not even imagine. He works on improving and monitoring processes that run so many other things.
Michael decided to apply to the M.S. in Management to further his knowledge and gain business management skills to supplement his undergraduate degree. In the program, he works to branch out and become more well-rounded in his skills so that he is not specialized in just one discipline of knowledge. Michael’s engineering background is certainly a special asset to the cohort and has brought a completely new perspective into the classroom.
He is not the only student in the program with a strong career focus. One of the most unique aspects of the M.S. in Management program is the wide variety of backgrounds among the students, from engineering to psychology to political science. This plays an important part in the learning experience of the cohort. As Michael shares, “This is truly a spectacular variety of knowledge and experience for the group to draw from. It allows students to analyze concepts from all different views and provides an in-depth and well-rounded understanding of the concepts we are learning and will apply.”
His favorite part about the program is its wide variety of personalities and backgrounds. For some engineers, verbal communication skills with non-engineers can be really challenging so interacting with people with many different educational backgrounds helped him gain the skills to connect with others. In doing so, Michael has made many friends in the program that he hopes to keep in touch with for the rest of his life. He truly enjoys how members of the cohort have created such a strong bond that they are able to do many different things together outside of class, such as going on weekend trips to the mountains or the beach and going out after tests to celebrate. Michael shares that a big factor that gets him up every day it knowing he gets to see all his friends and that each and every member of the class will be by his side in helping him succeed.
As a next step into his career, Michael is interested in becoming a project leader for one of the top engineering companies. His future career ambitions include traveling for his job for the first part of his life and eventually working for a bike company designing mountain bikes. His dreams are to travel the world and see as many places and experience as many different things as he can throughout his life. Michael’s true calling is for adventure, as he is very open to any new experiences that come about. It is very clear that Michael’s experiences in problem solving and curiosity have provided him with the natural abilities of an engineer.
Michael, we wish you all the best in your career aspirations!
Student Insight Shared with Christina Hewitt, M.S. in Management Ambassador, ‘19
Christina Hewitt, student in the Belk College of Business Master of Science in Management inaugural cohort, serves as the Marketing Ambassador for her graduate program. In this role, she shares her perspective as a student of the program through her original content, manages the cohort’s Facebook and Instagram pages, builds her marketing skills, attends class and enjoys her cohort experience. Belk College of Business welcomes Christina and all M.S. in Management students to the program!