MURFRESBORO, Tenn. — Recent Middle Tennessee State University Mechatronics Engineering graduate Abbie Lee brings a student perspective to the new, three-story, $74.8 million Applied Engineering Building in the September edition of “Out of the Blue,” MTSU’s television magazine show.

A Glasgow, Kentucky, native, Lee said she’s “very excited for the future students who get to experience this building and the cutting-edge technology that is housed here” in the interview with Andrew Oppmann, MTSU vice president of Marketing and Communications, inside the 90,000-square-foot facility. “I’m very excited for them, (and) just a little jealous.”

The facility will provide students with state-of-the-art space, robotics and engineering equipment and educational tools to prepare for their ever-changing careers.

You can watch the segment here:

A standout on the MTSU women’s golf team, Lee graduated with honors less than three months before the new building opened and accepted the opportunity to share remarks at the early August ribbon cutting.

“I think it’s going to help them build great industry-level experience and get real hands-on experience on things they will see in real life and in the workforce … and I wouldn’t trade my education at MTSU for the world,” she said, adding that she would tell people “it was character building” to take classes in Davis Science Building or 80-year-old Voorhies Engineering Technology Building. 

“We got to experience a lot of things and you learn to be grateful for what you have,” added Lee, who is seeking her Master of Business Administration in the Jones College of Business. “Pursuing an engineering degree has been something I’ve had my heart set on ever since my freshman year of high school.”

Regarding mechatronics, Lee said takeaways from the program included “learning how to work within a team and being surrounded by so many experienced professors. They have varying levels of expertise in many fields. I was able to pick their brains and see why they chose the degree. To have them help me and shape me as a person and student and engineer that I will become was being a part of something special.”

After earning her MBA, Lee has a strong interest in being a robotics engineer or project manager.

To learn more about mechatronics and other Engineering Technology programs, call 615-898-5009 or visit https://et.mtsu.edu. Engineering Technology is one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments.

To watch, listen

• “Out of the Blue” is available anytime on the university’s YouTube channel, the True Blue TV channel, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. 

• It also airs on Murfreesboro cable Channel 9 daily at 6 and 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; NewsChannel5+ at 6:30 p.m. Sundays; WKRN+ at 7 p.m. Thursdays and noon Sundays; via streaming on MTSU’s Jazz Network on WMOT HD2 and through WMOT.org at 7 a.m. on the first Sunday of each month; and on other cable outlets in Middle Tennessee, so check local listings. 

• It is also available as a podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, iHeart and as individual interview segments on primary host Spotify at https://spoti.fi/453hxg3.

Watch previous episodes of “Out of the Blue” at https://mtsunews.com/out-of-the-blue.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)