MEGAN HAPPEL
I’m not the type of person that likes to blow their own horn, but right now, I’m going to, because you need to know how hard I worked to get here.
I double majored at Michigan Technological University during a pandemic and graduated Summa Cum Laude in both Engineering Management and Scientific and Technical Communication.
Immersed in a university of top tier engineering students, I quickly learned to translate between the nuanced languages of science, engineering, and business to successfully lead many complex projects from the ground up. I honed my communication skills in every medium from technical writing to graphic design and discovered a passion for UX design along the way. I’m eager to find a company where I can unleash my skills, creativity, determination, and tenacity to help the business not only succeed, but flourish.
EDUCATION
(BS) SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION
Michigan Technological University
April 2022
When I started at Michigan Tech, I knew I wanted to pursue two separate bachelor's degrees. Having already realized the criticality of clear communication and human connection in the workplace, I customized my education so that I could become a valuable bridge between several types of people in the technical world. Scientific and Technical Communication taught me essential skills in everything from grammar to graphic design and connected me with some really great people who showed a genuine interest in helping me succeed. Though it is a major that emphasizes communication, the curriculum is deeply rooted in the science and technology of the university. I worked side by side with top tier engineering students and learned to communicate a variety of complex concepts in an understandable way.
(BS) ENGINEERING
MANAGEMENT
Michigan Technological University
April 2022
Engineering Management is a degree at Michigan Tech with equal
parts business and STEM curriculum. When I started at Michigan Tech, I became interested in becoming a communication bridge between engineers and business professionals. Effective communication is vital for the success of any company, and while at Michigan Tech, I made sure that I would have the skills necessary to bring effective communication to my workplace. I am a natural leader, and this degree exposed me to many projects and processes that helped me strengthen my managerial skills and my proficiency in STEM concepts.
ASSOCIATE OF GENERAL STUDIES
Glen Oaks Community College
May 2018
I graduated with an associate degree when I was seventeen years old. I was the youngest person in my graduating class and the only college graduate that was still in high school. This accomplishment came after years of taking advanced placement and dual enrollment courses through Glen Oaks Community College, Bay de Noc Community College, and College Board. I graduated from Mendon High School a month after graduating from community college. Read more about my double graduation in this article by Glen Oaks Community College.
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
THE SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION: STUDENT CHAPTER
President
September 2020 - April 2022
I joined this club shortly after declaring my major in Scientific and Technical Communication. It focused on skill building by connecting students to portfolio building projects, offering workshops, bringing in guest speakers, and hosting networking events. I became president of this club in September 2021 and emphasized portfolio development and peer review for my members.
MIND TREKKERS
Mind Trekker
January 2018 - April 2022
Mind Trekkers is a STEM outreach program that travels the country to teach exciting science demonstrations to children. I joined this club because I am passionate about making complex science understandable and enticing for younger generations.
CREATIVE WRITING CLUB AT MICHIGAN TECH
Vice President
October 2021 - April 2022
The Creative Writing Club was created as a space for authors to support other authors. In this club, we discussed complex aspects of creative writing and offered each other advice to elevate our writing endeavors. I was elected as vice president when this club was founded.
WORK EXPERIENCE
BRAND MANAGER — BAD INFO PROJECT
Michigan Technological University
September 2021 - April 2022
In my final year at college I was hired by two professors in the Humanities Department to create a brand around the project they were conducting in partnership with Michigan Humanities. This project was called Bad Info and explored the effects of misinformation in today's society through a series of events, exhibits, panel discussions, film showings, and more. In this role I created a logo as well as a brand guide for the project's marketing efforts. I also created several poster designs to advertise upcoming Bad Info events on campus. This was a largely asynchronous work environment and required me to learn the design tools Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. I also become familiar with the Michigan Tech Brand Guide, which all aspects of the project had to adhere to.
SALES ENGINEER INTERN
Armstrong International
May 2021 - August 2021
I worked with Armstrong International to update and organize their existing file systems for 3D part files. The Sales Department often receives requests from customers to use these 3D part files in their 3D system models, and so in order for these files to be sent out, they need to be gutted and defeatured to keep company trade secrets a secret. Throughout this project, I defeatured and organized around 14,000 files.
TEACHING ASSISTANT — APPLIED STRENGTH OF MATERIALS
Michigan Technological University
January 2021 - April 2021
I was recommended for this job by one of my previous professors in the Mechanical Engineering Technology Department and my duties ranged from grading hand-written homework assignments to running pre-lab tests on tensile strength testing machines. In this role I had to relearn a lot of material and understand it well enough to reverse engineer students' homework assignments and give them partial credit according to how severely they went wrong in their calculations. I also had to learn how to interpret data from machines I had never used before.
TUTOR — APPLIED STATICS
Michigan Technological University
December 2020
I briefly tutored for the Statics class after being recommended for the position by one of my previous professors. In this role, I studied the intricacies of free body diagrams and frictional forces well enough to reteach those concepts to students in an understandable way. This position challenged me to think of new ways to explain the same concepts and tailor my teaching method to specific students' learning styles.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
THE SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION: MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES
Member
December 2021 - Present
The Society for Technical Communication is one of the oldest and largest organizations dedicated to the advancement of technical communication. I became a member of the Michigan Great Lakes regional chapter when I was president of the Society for Technical Communication: Student Chapter at Michigan Tech. STC MGL offers a variety of professional development opportunities including workshops and networking conferences.
BETA GAMMA SIGMA: THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS HONOR SOCIETY
Member
March 2020 - Present
Beta Gamma Sigma is an exclusive business honor society for top performing business students and business professionals. This organization is associated with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and has over 800,000 members. I was offered a lifetime membership with Beta Gamma Sigma because of my outstanding accomplishments in the Michigan Tech College of Business.
