At Rose-Hulman, Jacob Beckmann developed the scientific and technical knowledge to succeed in his current role as a product engineer. But he also gained valuable skills that he believes people too often overlook in what a Rose-Hulman degree provides.
“You’re getting one of the best educations in the country,” said Beckmann, a 2020 physics and electrical engineering graduate. “But along the way, you’re also developing a lot of interpersonal skills—and people are critical in making sure you get the best out of whatever you’re doing.”
Relationship building and collaboration were cornerstones of Beckmann’s Rose-Hulman experience. Orientation activities during his earliest days on campus stressed the importance of establishing community. And that focus on teamwork continued throughout all the lab sessions and class projects he encountered in his college career.
“Typically, you hear that people compete for grades, whereas at Rose, it’s a collaborative mindset,” he said. “There’s a lot of problem solving and just bouncing ideas off one another. You’re trying to work together.”
Rose-Hulman faculty also play a critical role in fostering camaraderie, he said, making themselves readily available to answer questions and encouraging students to be active participants in planning their education. For Beckmann, that meant taking advantage of an opportunity to conduct research on a technology that, at the time, was in its infancy—and see the results of his work get published.
With his advisor, Kosta Popovic, PhD, associate department head and associate professor of physics, optical engineering, and nanoengineering, Beckmann conducted research on artificial intelligence and medical physics. His study, which examined how AI could improve cancer diagnoses, progressed alongside the emergence of technology that would later reshape how people live and work.
“It was a lot of fun to get an understanding of what the technology is looking like right now, where it’s headed in the future, and how it can actually help us as a society to move forward,” Beckmann said. “I think that was my favorite part about it, being on the front end and seeing what this can really do before we see the larger growth of AI.”
Today, Beckmann works for Missouri-based Kansas City National Security Campus, which produces non-nuclear components for national defense systems. His role focuses on ensuring the successful completion of electrical product development, from the drawing of a concept to the unveiling of the finished work.
He hopes to build his career by encouraging both innovation and teamwork, and he believes his Rose-Hulman education has set the stage for just that.
“I think it all comes back to: How do I build a community?” Beckmann said. “How do I build a team that shares the same drive to continuously improve and make a difference every day?”