Tyler and Davis Bentinck-Smith
At roughly a year and a half apart, brothers Tyler and Davis Bentinck-Smith share many loves, including sports, chemical engineering and Mississippi State.
Tyler, the elder brother who is graduating this May with a bachelor鈥檚 in chemical engineering and minor in business administration, said he and Davis attended 91传媒 football and baseball games growing up. The decision to leave their native New York to pursue undergraduate studies in 91传媒鈥檚 James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and its Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering ultimately was influenced by the campus鈥 home-away-from-home atmosphere.
鈥91传媒 was the only school we applied to,鈥 Tyler said. 鈥淚t is an incredibly inviting campus with friendly people. I love the weather here, too.鈥
鈥淲e had friends in New York who were picking from multiple schools,鈥 Davis said, 鈥渂ut we pretty much knew we were coming here once we got accepted.鈥
The brothers said they come from a family of loyal 91传媒 supporters and fans, including their parents who met as students. Their mother, Suzi, is a Department of Communication alumna, and their father James also holds an 91传媒 chemical engineering degree. Their father, now a plant manager for Evonik in Houston, Texas, inspired his sons to pursue the same field.
鈥淚 like the flexibility of a chemical engineering degree because you can do different things鈥攇raduate school, work in industry or go into sales, which is what I鈥檓 looking to do now,鈥 said Tyler, who completed a co-op at Southern Ionics in West Point.
Along with preparing students for co-op and industry work experiences, Davis appreciates that 91传媒 provides undergraduate students opportunities to conduct research alongside knowledgeable faculty. He is excited to have recently joined research groups led by Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Computational Engineering Thomas E. Lacy Jr. and Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Santanu Kundu.
鈥淵ou can see pictures in Power Point slides, but it鈥檚 important to see where everything is connected,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淚鈥檓 working under one of Dr. Lacy and Dr. Kundu鈥檚 graduate students, and I鈥檓 learning that you can be a chemical engineer if you鈥檙e willing to put in the work.鈥
Getting connected to faculty who have extensive practice in the classroom and in the field has made the 91传媒 experience even more beneficial and enjoyable, Tyler agreed.
鈥淪tate does a great job of exposing you to professors with different perspectives, and I think that makes things more interesting,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of collaboration in the chemical engineering program. Learning how to work in groups is important because you鈥檒l always be working with other people on the job.鈥
