Nathan Kurtz is currently in his third year of the Architectural Engineering program at Penn State University. He is following the Lighting/Electrical option. He is also a member of Schreyer Honors College. Nathan is an aspiring engineer with an interest in the electrical designs of buildings and plans to use his experience from internships, school, and research to be able to properly design efficient and renewable electrical systems.

Nathan has been able to intern at Reese Hackman Architectural Engineering. While working there, he learned about electrical device layouts, electrical code, Revit, and power distribution. Nathan gained experience working with Senior Care facilities, apartments, and cottages, which allowed him to apply skills and knowledge gained from school. He was able to develop and increase communication skills and cultivate a greater passion for electrical systems and power distribution in buildings.

While in school, Nathan has been exposed to many opportunities and classes which have increased his knowledge and passion for the building design industry. Nathan has started doing research for the Sustainable Buildings and Societies (SBS) lab on campus where he worked on a project: “Modernizing Cities via Smart Garden Alleys with Application in Makassar City”. Nathan was able to perform a literature review for this project, looking at case studies from around the world and gathering data on garden alleys in other locations. This experience helped him to think more globally and experience the research side of the building industry. Nathan also has been able to gain more from his courses through Schreyer Honors College. He has been able to dig deeper into several classes including AE 221/222 – Introduction to Structures and Materials and AE 202 – Introduction to AE Concepts.

Nathan has been able to experience many different disciplines within building design and construction. Through taking ARCH 130A/B, he gained knowledge of architectural processes and skills in communication and collaboration, this can be seen in the Museum Design Project. He also has taken AE 308 – Introduction to Structural Analysis and AE 309 – Introduction to Room Acoustics. Nathan makes for a strong candidate for jobs in electrical design and engineering for buildings. His experiences show not only his ability to learn and grow but also his passion for education and growth, and he has been able to cultivate many skills that can contribute well to the industry.