Christopher Howell, Electrical Engineering Alum

Degree(s)
BSEE (2005) 
MSEE (2007) 
PhD EE (2010) 

Current Residence
Stafford, Virginia

Current Employer 
U.S. Army C5ISR Center Research and Technology Integration Directorate

What influenced your decision to attend Herff College of Engineering?
Poverty, pre- and post U.S. military service, influenced my decision to attend Herff College of Engineering. Relatedly, my support system was located in Memphis, and I had always desired to become an engineer. So after realizing the few opportunities I had even after exiting the U.S. Army, I enrolled in the Herff College of Engineering.

How did Herff prepare you for your career?
Herff College provided me a high quality education, that enabled me to be competitive in the job market. Because of the education I received at Herff College I was able to change the trajectory for my life. Herff College taught me that in life most opportunities are reserved for the prepared. Herff College prepared for multiple careers by instilling foundational knowledge in me regarding subjects like computer engineering, optics, image processing, and applied physics, and challenging me to relate that knowledge to many other disciplines.

What skills or knowledge did you learn throughout the program that you found most helpful in your career?
Herff College provided me valuable skillsets that I still use even today to become and remain successful. I learned to model and characterize optical sensors at Herff College. I also learned how to design experiments and analyze and assess human and/or algorithm task performance at Herff College. These skillsets continue to allow me to support my career objectives. In short, Herff College taught me how to truly become a dreamer, thinker, and doer. I gained a 'no-limits' mentality to who I could become and what I could achieve. If I could dream it, then I felt confident that I could think through the problem and figure out a way to get it done.

Who was your most impactful professor? Why?
Dr. Carl Halford. Dr. Halford was an extremely brilliant, patient, and relatable professor. Dr. Halford helped
me focus on what goals I was trying to achieve rather than the obstacles that were in my way. Dr. Halford taught me how I learn best by requiring me to overcome my challenges head-on, but always being available to help me think through my alternative solutions. Dr. Halford also introduced me to how to conduct research on a professional level. Dr. Halford was the most impactful professor for me because he genuinely cared about my success, both as a person and as a student.

Were you involved in student groups? If so, which one(s)?
I was involved in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program, the McNair Scholars program, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

What support(s) did you have during your time as a college student? How did you keep focused on the goal?
I maintained full-time employment to handle my financial needs and utilized my immediate family to help coordinate and support the logistics that accompany starting a family with small children while in college.

What was your greatest memory from your time at Herff?
My greatest memory was completing my PhD in Electrical Engineering and walking across the stage. This achievement resonates with me the most because I was not only the first in my family to obtain a graduate degree, not mentioning a PhD degree, but I was also the first African American to graduate with a PhD in electrical engineering at Herff College.

What advice would you give those considering enrolling in Herff College of Engineering?
Do it! You will never regret your decision. If you desire to learn and be able to apply the prerequisite skills so that you are successful in any workforce in any region, enroll in Herff College of Engineering.

What do you know now that you wish you had known during your time at Herff?
I wish I had known more about how to prepare for upcoming class lecture so my educational experience would have been more proactive verse a reactive experience. Knowing how to organize my notes and learning what I don't know before I attend class proved to be extremely helpful for me in graduate school. Knowing what I didn't know before coming to class allowed me to ask the right questions of my professors that helped me be successful with my homework and (mostly) kept me from burning the candlestick on both ends without a resolution.

Was your Herff experience worth the price? If you could do it over again, what would you do differently?
College tuition is overpriced in my opinion in general, so I'm biased when I respond to this question. My answer is no, the Herff experience was not worth the price. I say no because I had to work full-time while attending undergraduate as a double major in electrical engineering and physics. I had to sacrifice a part of education to find the funds to pay for college. As a very successful underrepresented graduate of Herff College of Engineering, had I been able to afford college better, then I would have been able to learn even more during my Herff experience. Doing it all over again, I would learn more programming languages industry is using rather than just Matlab.