Capitol senior Ryan Brown: Programmer, technologist, and future researcher

What sets Capitol Technology University from other higher education choices in the region? Ask Ryan Brown and he’ll mention two attributes in particular: the focus on engineering and technology fields, and the close-knit, friendly environment.

Brown, a rising senior with a double major in computer science and electronics engineering technology, says he “fell in love with Capitol” during a high school trip to the university.

“The academic dean made a point of coming to visit my school,” he recalls. “Everybody at Capitol was so friendly – people went out of their way to answer questions and show me where to go. At the same time, it was really exciting to see the technological side – the students doing code, the projects in progress in the labs. I said to myself, ‘I really like this place!’”

As a student, he soon came to appreciate being able to forge connections with his professors – easy to do at a small school like Capitol, but far more difficult at big institutions that crowd students into auditorium-sized lectures.

“Capitol has small class sizes, so the professors really have the ability to work one on one with students. For example, I’ve taken classes with Professor Andrew Mehri, and he knows my strengths and weaknesses in code.  That’s true of the faculty in general – there’s the ability to understand a student’s strengths and help them in areas where they need to build up their skills,” Brown says.

That doesn’t mean the classes are easy or lightweight, though. On the contrary, he says, they can be “very hard. But you have the support of your professors. And you’ll end up learning so much.”

Brown remembers his C and Java programming classes as being among the most challenging – “and also the ones I ended up liking the most at the end of the day.”

“Learning new languages, learning new code – it still excites me to this day. Code is like a spoken language; there are always variations to it. I’ve been a CS major going on four years now, and I still get a thrill when I start writing code. I will always be grateful to Capitol for throwing me in the deep end on that one!”

Completing a double major is an ambitious endeavor for any student, but that hasn’t stopped Brown from also being active in student life. He is the president of the Student Leadership Advisory Board (S-LAB), an umbrella organization that oversees the various student clubs on campus.

“I’ve applied to graduate programs at four universities, Capitol being one of them, and I’m waiting for acceptance or denial as we speak. I want to do a dual master’s in computer science and business administration. Career-wise, I want to do research either in computer science or electronics engineering technology. I want to be able to travel, do research, do field studies."

“I like being in the mix of things,” Brown says. “That’s where I want my career to go.”