Mitchell Gresham Wired Up for Second Internship After First Year at Rose
Monday, August 11, 2025
Mitchell Gresham strives to make his younger self proud through his "magic" electrical engineering major, his internships, and RoseGPE.
Mitchell Gresham wants to live a life that would fill his 8-year-old self with awe. The philosophy seems to work well for him; it has already led the electrical engineering major to two internships after only his first year at Rose-Hulman. He is also concurrently pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering.
"The only thing that I think fills that role is electrical engineering," Gresham said, bubbling with excitement. "It's like magic in the air."
Though his exuberance for the field is obvious, Gresham never planned on becoming an engineer; he was interested in sociology when he started high school. At the urging of his high school chemistry teacher, Gresham, a Terre Haute native, joined the FIRST Robotics Team Area 5188: Classified Robotics, hosted at Rose-Hulman and mentored by Rose-Hulman students. He spent much of his high school years learning and developing in the Branam Innovation Center.
"I think, if Rose-Hulman hadn't come into my life, things would have turned out a lot differently," Gresham said. “Watching those robots race around the field was like nothing I’d seen before. It was just the coolest thing I had ever seen.”
Though FIRST Robotics had amplified his interests and introduced him to campus, Gresham believes it was Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Tina Hudson, PhD, who — perhaps unconsciously — convinced him to come to Rose-Hulman. Hudson is one of several faculty who supervise the robotics team, and trusting her expertise, Gresham approached her after a meeting about an electrical problem his Science Olympiad team was facing. Hudson eagerly and immediately whisked him to her office for what turned out to be a one-and-a-half-hour lesson on the topic.
"I think she is probably the biggest reason I chose Rose," said Gresham. "I don't think seeing a professor drop everything is something that's going to be anywhere [else]."
Hudson has continued to be a trusted mentor as Gresham navigated his first year at Rose-Hulman, and is now helping the Noblitt Scholar thrive in his internship. When faced with a problem he did not know how to solve, he again turned to Hudson, who immediately scheduled a call to teach him the skills.
With her help, Gresham continues to impress his younger self as an electrical engineering intern at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), an electromagnetic warfare test center for the U.S. Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio. Gresham was granted security clearance for his work.
"It's way cooler than I thought it would be," he said. "I love building little circuits that do cool things. It's so wacky, but it's so interesting."
Gresham was thrilled to immediately be able to put his classroom knowledge to use.
"I feel like a real engineer," he joked.
He is certainly on the fast track to becoming a “real engineer.” Though he is only a rising sophomore, HII is Gresham's second internship — he was offered the rare opportunity to intern at Rose-Hulman Ventures before he even started classes. Gresham began by sorting parts, which he viewed as a perpetual learning opportunity.
"I thought it was really foundational because I had to figure out what each part did to put it in the right box," he said. "You might not understand all the physics behind it, but you will have an amazing intuition for looking at a problem, breaking it down, and solving it."
His philosophy of secretly trying to impress his inner child led him to the "coolest thing you could build" — a racecar — with Rose-Hulman Grand Prix Engineering (GPE), where he sought some of those same parts to solve team problems. Each year, GPE team members design, build, and race an electric vehicle for the Formula SAE Competition. Both Gresham's childhood and collegiate selves are looking forward to the opportunity to drive the racecar next year as it is built and tested.
"GPE has been a really great community for me," he said. "I've met some of the smartest people I've ever met, who are really great examples for me on who I want to become as an electrical engineer and as a leader."
Gaining more experience, including GPE, has only made Gresham more wired for his field.
"It's really cool to look at things and have an understanding of how they work," he said. "As you keep going, everything just gets more interesting."
His passion for his "magic" craft swiftly carries him toward success, a coursing current certain to make his 8-year-old self proud.
"The only thing that I think fills that role is electrical engineering," Gresham said, bubbling with excitement. "It's like magic in the air."
Though his exuberance for the field is obvious, Gresham never planned on becoming an engineer; he was interested in sociology when he started high school. At the urging of his high school chemistry teacher, Gresham, a Terre Haute native, joined the FIRST Robotics Team Area 5188: Classified Robotics, hosted at Rose-Hulman and mentored by Rose-Hulman students. He spent much of his high school years learning and developing in the Branam Innovation Center.
"I think, if Rose-Hulman hadn't come into my life, things would have turned out a lot differently," Gresham said. “Watching those robots race around the field was like nothing I’d seen before. It was just the coolest thing I had ever seen.”
Though FIRST Robotics had amplified his interests and introduced him to campus, Gresham believes it was Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Tina Hudson, PhD, who — perhaps unconsciously — convinced him to come to Rose-Hulman. Hudson is one of several faculty who supervise the robotics team, and trusting her expertise, Gresham approached her after a meeting about an electrical problem his Science Olympiad team was facing. Hudson eagerly and immediately whisked him to her office for what turned out to be a one-and-a-half-hour lesson on the topic.
"I think she is probably the biggest reason I chose Rose," said Gresham. "I don't think seeing a professor drop everything is something that's going to be anywhere [else]."
Hudson has continued to be a trusted mentor as Gresham navigated his first year at Rose-Hulman, and is now helping the Noblitt Scholar thrive in his internship. When faced with a problem he did not know how to solve, he again turned to Hudson, who immediately scheduled a call to teach him the skills.
With her help, Gresham continues to impress his younger self as an electrical engineering intern at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), an electromagnetic warfare test center for the U.S. Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio. Gresham was granted security clearance for his work.
"It's way cooler than I thought it would be," he said. "I love building little circuits that do cool things. It's so wacky, but it's so interesting."
Gresham was thrilled to immediately be able to put his classroom knowledge to use.
"I feel like a real engineer," he joked.
He is certainly on the fast track to becoming a “real engineer.” Though he is only a rising sophomore, HII is Gresham's second internship — he was offered the rare opportunity to intern at Rose-Hulman Ventures before he even started classes. Gresham began by sorting parts, which he viewed as a perpetual learning opportunity.
"I thought it was really foundational because I had to figure out what each part did to put it in the right box," he said. "You might not understand all the physics behind it, but you will have an amazing intuition for looking at a problem, breaking it down, and solving it."
His philosophy of secretly trying to impress his inner child led him to the "coolest thing you could build" — a racecar — with Rose-Hulman Grand Prix Engineering (GPE), where he sought some of those same parts to solve team problems. Each year, GPE team members design, build, and race an electric vehicle for the Formula SAE Competition. Both Gresham's childhood and collegiate selves are looking forward to the opportunity to drive the racecar next year as it is built and tested.
"GPE has been a really great community for me," he said. "I've met some of the smartest people I've ever met, who are really great examples for me on who I want to become as an electrical engineer and as a leader."
Gaining more experience, including GPE, has only made Gresham more wired for his field.
"It's really cool to look at things and have an understanding of how they work," he said. "As you keep going, everything just gets more interesting."
His passion for his "magic" craft swiftly carries him toward success, a coursing current certain to make his 8-year-old self proud.