Sam Wendler: Soccer Star, Engineer, or both?

Most everyone can remember a high school slacker, intent on having a good time at the expense of academics or future goals. Well, that is not Samuel (Sam) Wendler, first year engineering student here at Virginia Tech who is from Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, which is not far from the Pennsylvania – Maryland border, approximately 50 miles north of Baltimore. Sam is hard working and he has both small town and metropolitan qualities, which make him an easy person to like.

Glen Rock is a borough of York County and has a total area of less than a square mile, with 800 households and a population of 1,800. Sam is originally from West Chester, Pennsylvania, which is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (about 25 miles west of the city), so Sam has experienced both suburban and rural life, which is neat. West Chester is less than 2 square miles in total, but has almost 20,000 people and over 6,000 households. Experiencing two dissimilar locales may be one reason why Sam interacts so well with all types of people. Sam describes himself as generally being very friendly and outgoing as he strives to be friendly with everyone he encounters, but admits that he can be reserved at times. One friend said that Sam is a “funny, goofy guy…who always has good intentions.” Being both outgoing and reserved, having humor, and intending well, can be a huge asset and speaks well of Sam’s character.

In high school, while maintaining high grades, Sam also played soccer and worked at a fry stand. Sam’s friend proudly reported that Sam is famous for scoring the winning goal in the state final for his soccer team. Sam plans to play intramural soccer at Tech his second semester, but will trade the service industry for the engineering field. When exploring college opportunities, Sam sought a top ranked engineering school. Because Virginia Tech is known throughout the nation and was ranked the 14th best undergraduate engineering program in the United States by U.S. News and World Report (shared with Texas A&M), Sam was interested. Sam commented that Tech is “a good engineering school” and that he had “never heard anyone complain about the school.” Virginia Tech’s Dean of Engineering stated, “Our rank of 14th puts us squarely among the finest engineering colleges in the nation, and speaks to the notice we’re receiving for our innovative work as educators.” With its fourteen undergraduate Bachelor of Science degrees, Virginia Tech Engineering is all inclusive, and Sam reported that the decision to choose Tech was easy.

Sam plans to major in Mechanical Engineering, which is directly related to his future goal of being a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drafter. Computer Aided Design is a form of geometric designing used by engineers to develop models, on a computer, of what they are trying to build. CAD programs can be used to design anything from building structures to car engines and even can be used in the design and planning of technical manuals. The CAD software is also used in a support role for other engineering disciplines and is fundamental to any project’s development, as CAD is used not only to design the structure, but also to analyze and test the structure before its construction, and how to best implement the building of the structure.

With a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Sam’s possibilities are endless for the types of design he can do as a CAD drafter. And the job opportunities for CAD drafters is expected to at least keep pace with average job growth until 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. As the economy improves, job demand will grow, as it will also do with the rising demand for new and upgraded products. In 2006, there were about 253,000 jobs nationally for drafters, of which 31% were mechanical drafters. Coming from such a highly rated Engineering School, Sam should have no trouble reaching his career goals.