My name is Owen Kirpes. I graduated from Northwest Career and Technical Academy's Engineering Program in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a 4.9 weighted GPA. Throughout my high school career, I consistently challenged myself academically by taking on a rigorous course load that included Advanced Placement (AP) and dual-enrollment college-level classes. This commitment to academic excellence has not only allowed me to develop a strong foundation in critical thinking and problem-solving but has also instilled in me a deep passion for the fields of both mathematics and engineering. After spending four years in a career and technical high school, I refined my engineering goal to specifically aerospace. I am majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Unmanned Autonomous Systems at the University of Nevada, Reno, where I am enrolled for the fall of 2025. After college, my dream is to work for a defense contracting company to help develop tomorrow's aircraft and work with cutting-edge technology in the aviation field. I have already been offered the opportunity to do research at UNR within the engineering department. I know the combination of my commitment to excellence, natural curiosity, and my drive to succeed will turn my dream of working for a defense contracting company into reality, so that later in my career, I can build my own company. I have already taken steps to achieve this goal. One of these steps was my heavy involvement in the robotics program at my school. I was the captain of the VEX robotics team 67002F and the lead builder and designer on my team. My robots won 4 regional competitions and were finalists in 2 others. And, this past March, my team became the Nevada State VEX Robotics Champions. Our team competed in the World Vex Championships in Texas in May. I was involved in VEX all of high school and was a prominent member of the program. I mentored younger teams and helped 3 teams build their robots, strategize, and troubleshoot issues. VEX is not the only program in which I competed. I was also on the FIRST Robotics team 8022, which competed on the world stage in 2021. I was placed in charge of designing our robot's intake in 2023 - 2024. Last summer, I began an internship at a local hardware and software integration company called Rapid Expeditionary Concepts (REC). At this internship, I perform both mechanical and electrical engineering tasks, which include custom part fabrication, avionics integration, and testing using both software programs and fabricated parts. This internship has given me a taste of what it is like to work as an engineer and has made me double down on my drive to become one. All seniors at my high school participate in a capstone project, which lasts throughout the year. For my project, I designed a custom, fully autonomous quadcopter drone to test innovative acoustic signature reduction propellers. These propellers were designed by me and entirely custom-made in order to effectively reduce the noise created by propellers and increase the range of the drone. Our project won the Engineering Capstone Award. I am currently designing and building a small airplane that will achieve a 10,000-meter range mission capability and implement AI detection and tracking for search and rescue operations. I have my sights set high on becoming a lead innovator in the aviation industry, but I am setting myself up for success and being able to achieve these goals through participation and leadership in robotics, interning under and learning from industry professionals, and creating my engineering projects to better understand what goes into the design process.

My name is Owen Kirpes, and I just graduated from Northwest Career and Technical Academy in their engineering program in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have a 4.9 weighted GPA. Throughout my high school career, I have consistently challenged myself academically, taking on a rigorous course load that includes Advanced Placement (AP) and dual enrollment college-level classes. This commitment to academic excellence has not only allowed me to develop a strong foundation in critical thinking and problem-solving but has also instilled in me a deep passion for the fields of both mathematics and engineering. After spending four years in a career and technical high school, I have refined my engineering goal, specifically in aerospace. I am going to major in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Unmanned Autonomous Systems (UAS) at the University of Nevada, Reno, where I have already enrolled for the fall of 2025. After college, I plan to work for a defense contracting company to help develop tomorrow's aircraft and work with cutting-edge technology in the aviation field. I am taking steps to achieve this goal. One of these steps was my heavy involvement in the robotics program at my school. I was the captain of the VEX robotics team 67002F and the lead builder and designer on my team. My robots won 4 regional competitions and were finalists in 2 others. And, this past March, my team became the Nevada State VEX Robotics Champions. Our team competed in the World Vex Championships in Texas in May. I was involved in VEX all 4 years of high school and was a prominent member in the program throughout my years. I started to mentor younger teams as I became a senior member in the program, and now have helped 3 teams build their robots, strategize, and troubleshoot issues. Before I graduated, I designed an information video for my robotics coach, demonstrating how to build a solid drive train. I was honored to mentor current robotics teams and my school, and I am excited to help those who will come after me. Last summer, I was offered an internship at a local hardware and software integration company in Las Vegas. At this internship, I perform mechanical and electrical engineering tasks like custom part fabrication, avionics integration, and testing using both software programs and fabricated parts. This internship has given me a taste of what it is like to work as an engineer and has made me double down on my drive to become one. All seniors at my school create something called a capstone project, which lasts throughout their senior year, and they present their project at the end of the year. For my project, I designed a custom, fully autonomous quadcopter drone to test innovative acoustic signature reduction propellers. These propellers are designed by me and entirely custom-made to effectively reduce the noise created by propellers and increase the range of drones. This project won the Engineering Capstone Award. The results of this win were based on votes from not just members of our school but also the community members who attended the capstone presentations. Overall, I have my sights set high on becoming a lead innovator in the aviation industry but am setting myself up for success and being able to achieve these goals through participation and leadership in robotics, interning under and learning from industry professionals, and creating my engineering projects to better understand what goes into the design process.

In 5th grade, when we were learning about careers, I chose to explore engineering because I knew my grandpa was an engineer. Now, seven years later, I have refined my interests in engineering and set specific goals for myself. I am majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Unmanned Autonomous Systems at the University of Nevada, Reno. After college, I aim to work for a defense contracting company to help develop the aircraft of tomorrow and contribute to cutting-edge technology in aviation. To achieve this goal, I have taken several proactive steps along the way. One significant step is my heavy involvement in the robotics program at my school. I am the captain of the VEX robotics team 67002F, where I serve as the lead builder and designer. My robots have won three regional competitions and reached the finals in two others. Throughout my four years in high school, I have become a prominent member of the VEX program and have started mentoring younger teams, helping them build their robots, strategize, and troubleshoot issues. In addition to VEX, I am also a member of the FIRST Robotics team 8022, which competed on the world stage in 2021. As a lead designer on this team, I was placed in charge of a group responsible for designing our robot's intake system in 2023. The summer before my senior year, I was offered an internship at a local hardware and software integration company called Rapid Expeditionary Concepts (REC). During this internship, I perform mechanical and electrical engineering tasks, including custom part fabrication, avionics integration, and testing using both software programs and fabricated components. This experience has provided me with a taste of what it is like to work as an engineer and has strengthened my determination to pursue this career. I have also initiated my engineering projects to further my goal. At my school, all seniors participate in a capstone project that lasts the entire year, culminating in a presentation at the end. For my project, I designed a custom, fully autonomous quadcopter drone to test innovative acoustic signature reduction propellers. These propellers, which I designed and fabricated, are intended to effectively reduce noise generated by propellers and increase the operational range of drones. Overall, I am setting my sights high and plan to become a lead innovator in the aviation industry. I am preparing for success through active participation and leadership in robotics, interning under and learning from industry professionals, and creating my engineering projects to better understand the design process and improve my ability to create parts and systems. One of my most fulfilling volunteer experiences occurred during the summer before my junior year of high school when my friend and I coached my little sister's middle school volleyball team. The girls had little to no experience with the sport. Interestingly, I had never played volleyball myself. Fortunately, my co-coach had years of experience and guided me in teaching essential skills like hitting and passing. In addition to coaching, I have volunteered in various other capacities, such as helping my mom at the snack shack during softball season, where I spent time making burgers and hot dogs. I’ve also assisted in cleaning up after mountain bike races for the team I ride for the Vegas Vipers. And, helping out with various activities through the National Honor Society. Balancing these volunteer efforts with two part-time jobs, robotics team commitments, and rigorous Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes has been challenging but I do think it is important to give back to the community.

My fascination with aviation and aeronautics began at a young age, thanks to my grandfather. He was deeply interested in military aircraft and shared countless books and stories from his time serving in the U.S. Navy. While I maintained a mild interest in military planes throughout my childhood, my enthusiasm truly soared (no pun intended) after my junior year of high school. That summer, I was fortunate enough to land an internship at a company called REC, which specializes in hardware and software integration. This internship is proving to be an amazing experience, allowing me to immerse myself in the intricacies of advanced technology and helped grow my interest in aeronautics - it's certainly a large factor in helping to cement my future career choice. I'm currently studying for my Part 107 license so I can take my expertise even further. Even after spending 7 hours at school, I can't wait for my day to end so I can head to the internship and keep learning. As a senior at Northwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, I am currently enrolled in the engineering program as well as belonging to our school's robotics team for 4 years. A crucial component of our curriculum is the capstone project, which serves as the culmination of four years' worth of lessons and skills. For this project, I am utilizing the knowledge and experience I've gained through my internship and my 4 years of building robots for VEX and FRC competitions, in which my team has competed in numerous competitions, by designing and constructing an advanced autonomous aerial vehicle. This role came with a unique set of challenges and I failed many times before ultimately succeeding. I created 8 prototypes over 2 months before finally landing on a design I was happy with. The next issue was the electronic component assembly on the drone. I soldered all our wires together and created custom cables for the drone. However, my part selection was poor and I had unknowingly used under powered motor controllers and over powered motors. This led to a motor controller catching on fire because the motors were pulling too much power through them. After the first fire, we thought we had simply received a bad motor controller and so I simply replaced the burned controller. When the second motor controller caught on fire during testing I realized it wasn’t faulty components and instead was faulty part selection. So I went back to the drawing board and poured days into researching power flow, amperage vs voltage requirements, and looked for new parts. I found new motors which drew less power on average and higher powered controllers that could handle much more electrical flow. After installing these new motors and motor controllers the drone flew great, our motors did not draw too much power for the controllers and the power flowing through our parts was well below the maximum. This is where our drone stands today, fully flight capable and able to run autonomous missions up to 4,000 meters away from its starting position. This endeavor has been a labor of love and has only solidified my conviction that a career in the drone industry is my true calling.

My fascination with aviation and aeronautics began at a young age, thanks to my grandfather. He was deeply interested in military aircraft and shared countless books and stories from his time serving in the U.S. Navy. While I maintained a mild interest in military planes throughout my childhood, my enthusiasm truly soared (no pun intended) after my junior year of high school. This summer, I was fortunate enough to land an internship at a company which specializes in hardware and software integration. This internship is proving to be an amazing experience, allowing me to immerse myself in the intricacies of advanced technology and helped grow my interest in aeronautics - it's certainly a large factor in helping to cement my future career choice. I'm currently studying for my Part 107 license so I can take my expertise even further. Even after spending 7 hours at school, I can't wait for my day to end so I can head to the internship and keep learning. As a senior at Northwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, I am currently enrolled in the engineering program and belong to our school's robotics team for 4 years. A crucial component of our curriculum is the capstone project, which culminates four years' worth of lessons and skills. For this project, I am utilizing the knowledge and experience I've gained through my internship and my 4 years of building robots for VEX and FRC competitions, in which my team has competed in numerous competitions, by designing and constructing an advanced autonomous aerial vehicle. This role came with a unique set of challenges and I failed many times before ultimately succeeding. I created 8 prototypes over 2 months before finally landing on a design I was happy with. The next issue was the electronic component assembly on the drone. I soldered all our wires together and created custom cables for the drone. However, my part selection was poor and I had unknowingly used underpowered motor controllers and overpowered motors. This led to a motor controller catching on fire because the motors were pulling too much power through them. After the first fire, we thought we had simply received a bad motor controller and so I simply replaced the burned controller. When the second motor controller caught on fire during testing I realized it wasn’t faulty components and instead was faulty part selection. So I went back to the drawing board and poured days into researching power flow, amperage vs voltage requirements, and looked for new parts. I found new motors which drew less power on average and higher powered controllers that could handle much more electrical flow. After installing these new motors and motor controllers the drone flew great, our motors did not draw too much power for the controllers and the power flowing through our parts was well below the maximum. This is where our drone stands today, fully flight capable and able to run autonomous missions up to 4,000 meters away from its starting position. This endeavor has been a labor of love and has only solidified my conviction that a career in the drone industry is my true calling.