Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

Kyle Konopnicki

Engineer

High School: Tabb (’03)

CTE Courses: Technology Education

Additional Studies/Training: BS/Mechanical Engr. (Va. Tech)

A Calculated Career

You might say that Kyle Konopnicki was led into an engineering career by robots. In 8th grade, he competed in a TSA competition and earned took home the title of State Robotics Champion. From that achievement onward, Kyle was on an engineering track that ultimately led him to Virginia Tech – where he was on the champion-ship team at the International Intelligent Ground Vehicle robotics competition. Today, he’s a nuclear propulsion engineer with a major aerospace contractor.

Kyle credits his high school studies for providing skills that served him throughout his engineering education. “I took AutoCAD classes in high school,
and it was a big advantage having those skills. In college, when we did team assignments/projects, I was always the one doing the drawings for the assignments. And ever since then, it’s always been easier to learn other programs that are similar to AutoCad.