Alex Arguelles has been interested in electrical engineering since he was young. In high school, while the other students were making simple circuits , Alex built a scrolling marquee. In order to pursue his studies, however, Alex needed financial help. “I probably wouldn’t be in school if it wasn’t for ECAP,” he explained.

During the summer after his freshman year, Alex did research in the U of A’s nanotechnology lab, adding nanoparticles to plexiglass to see if that could increase its mechanical properties. He continued with this project through the fall semester of his sophomore year.

His second summer in the ECAP program, Alex interned at Tyson foods, in the plant automation division. In this job, which lasted all the way through his senior year, Alex was able to take a big role in several projects, such as creating an ammonia detection system for one of Tyson’s engine rooms. For this project, Alex designed a system to monitor levels of ammonia, which is used for refrigeration. If the levels got high enough to cause a fire hazard, the system would shut down the engines. After designing the system, Alex built and installed the control panel and installed sensors.

When he graduates in the spring, Alex will be working at Zeeco in Tulsa. In this job, he’ll be using the skills he perfected in his internship, and he’ll get to travel the world representing the company.