The Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu October 2017 - 42

Jonathan Dencker
MeMber Profile

Jonathan Dencker Originally from Brentwood, Tennessee, Jonathan attended the
United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. He was President of the IEEE-HKN
Iota Phi Chapter at West Point where he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering with
Honors, and Mathematical Sciences with Honors. He is currently commissioned in the
U.S. Army as an Infantry Officer.
Jonathan's accomplishments include: Distinguished Cadet Award, Dean's List, and
Superintendent's Award for Achievement (Top 10% of graduating class when Academic
GPA, Physical GPA, and Military GPA are weighted equally); research sponsored by the
Army Research Laboratory on vertical cavity surface emitting lasers resulting conference
appearances at Photonics West 2016; ARL Technical Symposium 2016; and NCUR
2016...as well as publications in the SPIE and NCUR 2016 proceedings; and Internship
at MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Division 7 focusing on Micro-Satellite Design.

Iota Phi Chapter

Why did you choose to study the
engineering field (or the particular
field you are studying)?
I have always been genuinely interested
in how things work, so I went to
college knowing that I wanted to study
engineering. I ultimately chose to study
electrical engineering because it is one of
the hardest majors offered at my school
and I wanted to challenge myself.
What do you love about engineering?
What I love the most about engineering is
understanding what's going on inside the
black box. There are so many systems,
particularly electrical systems that people
use on a daily basis and have no idea
how they work. Growing up right outside
Nashville gave me a passion for music
that exposed me to many of these black
boxes. Playing guitar as a kid, I became
familiar with effect pedals and amplifiers,
but I had little understanding of how they
produced their effects. Little did I know, as
an electrical engineer I would be building
my own audio amplifier and karaoke
machine based on these very same
principles. Electrical engineering allowed
me to expand my horizons and dive

42

deeper into the black boxes that control
what I am passionate about and, that is
what I love most about engineering.
What don't you like about engineering?
Engineering is very time consuming, as
it should be. Unlike most engineering
students, when I graduate I will
immediately serve as an officer in the U.S.
Army. The only thing I don't appreciate
about engineering at my school is that it
takes away from the time I could be using
to prepare myself physically and mentally
for my future job.
What is your dream job?
My dream job is to serve as a light infantry
platoon leader in the U.S. Army. I have
always wanted to be in the Army, and to
me there isn't a greater job in the Army
than a platoon leader in the Infantry. I'm
extremely blessed to have the opportunity
to commission into the Infantry in May
and I can't wait to get to work. If I were to
pick a dream job outside of the military,
it would be as an engineer at a defense
research laboratory or at an engineering
firm that specialized in defense contracts.
I believe when I'm done with my time in
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THE BRIDGE
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu October 2017
