2018 Aerospace Team

Thomas Walbom 2018 Genius Garage Aerospace student

Age: 22
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Thomas Walbom was inspired to become a pilot and design his own prototype airplane at the young age of 7. His vivid memories of aircraft that gracefully strafed across the airfield at the airshow his father took him to keeps him strongly motivated today. This gregarious and imaginative individual also excels in academia and has been invited to an engineering honors society, which requirements include faculty recommendation and at least the top 12 percentile of his major. He joined Genius Garage for the experience of real-life problem solving to get ahead of the curve and aims to eventually graduate with a full time engineering position.

Brock Hoops 2018 Genius Garage Aerospace student

Age: 20
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Brock Hoops is a very dependable and ambitious mind who strives to become an engineer for NASA to better humanity and inspire young people to do great things in life. Brock is also a diligent worker who built a Fender Stratocaster Guitar from scratch as a project for school. He understood and was proud of the time and effort he put into building it and now wants to shift those efforts to Genius Garage. Now, he is focused on applying his knowledge from school to building an airplane and learning as much as he can.

Gerrett Ellet 2018 Genius Garage Aerospace student

Age: 20
Major: Chemical Engineering, Minor: Chemistry

Dedicated, resourceful, and amiable are just a few of the ways to describe Gerrett Ellet. From as far back as he could remember, he was always fascinated with flight and spent much of his childhood in aviation museums and the experience of a cockpit of a commercial airliner has only furthered his aspirations. Now as an advanced student, his most proud accomplishment has been his trip to El Salvador to install improved filtration units that were personally engineered by him and his peers. Gerrett’s life goals include to travel to space at least once, and to improve life for all of humanity. With these goals in mind, he found himself naturally drawn to Genius Garage for the experience of both building an airplane and learn as much as possible.

William Conser 2018 Genius Garage student

Age: 27
BSA (Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Science) , Currently pursuing MSE (Master of Science in Practice Oriented Engineering)

Integrity and diligence are just a few of the many words you could use to describe William Conser. Growing up with an interest in WWII planes and the romanticism of aviation and its ideas of exploration and traveling beyond the horizon, he takes great interest in aerospace and exploring new frontiers. He also found that strong character was important when exploring these new frontiers so he proudly stayed on a straight path through college and did not compromise his lifestyle or morality. He plans to challenge himself with a difficult masters degree and rely on his ingenuity to solve problems along the way. William found himself attracted to Genius Garage to learn more about cooperation with new peers and skills he can adapt and improve to be a leader.

Nicolas Hayward 2018 Genius Garage Racing Team student

Age: 20
Major: Undecided

With an overabundance of curiosity and perseverance, Nicholas Hayward loves to learn about anything and everything he can. His interests in cars began with his very first car, an old green Chevy Blazer. When he learned of the freedoms it gave him to travel to far places, his ambitions grew and lead him to Genius Garage. Now, Nicholas is learning the hands-on work of cars and all the mechanics and physics that go into them. With that strong inclination to learn, it had also lead him to take college courses while still in high school and that taught him a lot about time management and efficiency. In the long run, Nicholas’ single goal for the future is to live an exciting life that will lead to the betterment of humanity in the process. With that in mind, Nicholas knew he couldn’t miss his chance to learn all he could here at Genius Garage.

Ryan Beagle 2018 Genius Garage Aerospace student leader

Age: 22
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Loyalty, reason, and creativity are just a few aspects of Ryan Beagle's personality that led him to return to Genius Garage team as an experienced leader. He returned for the second time to assist the next generation of bright individuals reach their peak potential. Not only is he an experienced leader, but Ryan also is a creative and artistic student who enjoys socializing, traveling and taking part of various projects. As a 4th year mechanical engineer major, Ryan has goals of working in a management environment. He shows a major interest in learning as much as he can by working with the Genius Garage members by developing an invaluable source of knowledge.

Madolyn Burke 2018 Genius Garage team coordinator

Age: 22
Major: Special Education

Madolyn Burke plays an interesting role within Genius Garage. She brings an organized, optimistic and thorough approach to any task she undertakes. In addition, she’s an artistic and creative thinker who enjoys painting and playing the piano. As a special education major, Madolyn strives to positively impact the lives of individuals with autism. Throughout college, she has been greatly influenced by former professors to take her learnings and apply them to benefit the residents she works with. As a returning student, she continues to broaden her knowledge of cars and engineering and to develop communication and teamwork skills as well as help coordinate the organization as a whole.