The College of Engineering - 2010 Celebration

Timothy Osedach

Class of 2005, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Graduate takes ‘Giant Leap’ From Rowan Engineering To Success

Deciding to pursue a Rowan engineering degree was one small step for Timothy Osedach, but one giant leap for his career.

Inspired by his grandfather, who was a mechanical engineer for Grumman Corporation during NASA’s Apollo Program, and encouragement from his teachers and parents, Osedach decided to pursue electrical and computer engineering. When looking at schools, Osedach said that Rowan’s “small, focused environment” and a full-tuition scholarship made the University a clear choice.

Osedach continuously discovered new ways of supplementing his Rowan education. He helped organize Rowan’s IEEE Student Professional Awareness Conference and Rowan’s Engineering Communications Skills Workshop, chaired Rowan’s IEEE Student Branch, helped coordinate the IEEE Region 2 Student Activities Conference at Rowan and served on the administrative committee as a student affiliate to the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society.

“Because Rowan’s engineering school is relatively small, there were ample opportunities to practice leadership skills in student organizations like the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE),” said Osedach. “My experiences in Rowan’s IEEE student chapter as well as in the Instrumentation and Measurement Society’s Administrative Committee have been extremely valuable to my professional development.”

Osedach graduated with a bachelor’s in electrical and computer engineering and a minor in physics in May 2005 — ranked first in a class of 100 Engineering students (with a 3.99 GPA).

After graduation, Osedach set his sights on Cambridge, earning a master’s in applied physics from Harvard University, which included teaching a course on transmission electron microscopy as a Harvard University Teaching Fellow.

“There were plenty of opportunities to teach and tutor other students in my junior and senior years at Rowan,” said Osedach. “These experiences were valuable in building confidence to be an effective teaching assistant in graduate school.”

Today Osedach is a graduate research assistant at MIT, while pursuing a doctorate in applied physics at Harvard.

“Rowan’s ECE curriculum provides for a great deal of hands-on learning of skills relevant to electrical and computer engineers,” said Osedach. “All of this hand-on experience has made the transition to working in a laboratory as a graduate research assistant a lot smoother.”

“One of the greatest joys of being an engineering professor is seeing your students succeed,” said Dr. Robert Krchnavek, Rowan electrical and computer engineering associate professor. “Tim's accomplishments have certainly been very rewarding for the ECE faculty."