09/17/2026
“I chose Brown for its commitment to renewable energy, its proximity to the nation’s first offshore wind farm off Block Island, and research opportunities that undergraduates can access. Climate change is the ultimate threat to the world we know and love, and I want to be at the forefront of innovation. After traveling to 47 states, New England was one of the few regions I did not know well, and I wanted to experience the culture and the people here for myself.
The opportunities came fast. I earned a Spring UTRA my freshman year doing oceanography research with Professor Baylor Fox-Kemper, consolidating 20 years of data for the Ocean State Oceanographic Model, which helps forecast currents, temperature, and salinity in Narragansett Bay. The next summer I studied GPS and geodesy at Michigan State, and this past summer I did engineering work for a mining company that sharpened my skills and opened doors toward entrepreneurship.
As a mechanical engineering concentrator with 21-degree requirements, I use the Open Curriculum less traditionally, but its flexibility has let me move through my degree in my own order, and that freedom has helped me both academically and personally.
Being a veteran here has been an adjustment I did not expect. I am in my thirties, married, and a decade older than most of my classmates, and after ten years around people in uniform, my sense of humor was calibrated for a very different audience. But my classmates have been curious about my path rather than confused by it, and Brown has given me room to be a married veteran and a junior at the same time.
Outside class, my favorite thing is time with my wife and our dog. We love catching metal shows around Providence, the food scene punches far above its weight, and on fall Saturdays you can find me at Snookers watching college football.
My goal is to build my own business, and I am already developing a prototype with two partners. More than anything, Brown has given me confidence. Whatever job I take and wherever I live, I know the skills I built here will let me flourish.”
Zach P. ‘28
Mechanical Engineering
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