At Lilly, Dockins wasn't interested in following in the footstep of engineers who spent several years working on a single project. Instead, he was intrigued by networking opportunities with Lilly's general legal counsel and patent attorneys.

   So, he went to law school at the University of Toledo after graduating in 2002. Patent attorneys are required to have a scientific background, and his Rose-Hulman background met that requirement easily. "It seemed like a natural fit."

   He also dove into the world of corporate strategy by serving for a time as in-house counsel for First Solar, a leading manufacturer of thin-film photovoltaic devices. "Being on the cutting edge is a cool place to be," he observes, but that also means navigating through technology challenges which leaders face more often than followers. Competition in alternative energy is fierce and the playing field

   Just as players in industry must keep the whole world in mind, Dockins believes Rose-Hulman needs to think strategically on a global scale and work hard to get its name out more broadly. Rose-Hulman is widely known within some engineering circles, but must spread that recognition much farther, "to have a larger portion of the population realize how great the school is."

   Dockins does his part by, among other things, representing Rose-Hulman at college fairs. He's also been an advisory board member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity's campus and international organizations. And, like lots of his peers who are a decade out of undergraduate studies, "it's all family, all the time."