Mariel Meegan (’13)

“My favorite memories are all the times I spent with my friends at CBU. Whether it was big events like staying up all night to finish our moonbuggy for our senior project, or smaller things like playing darts between our welding projects, the camaraderie I experienced at CBU will always stand out in my memory. I still keep in contact with many of the friends I made there to this day.”

Mariel Meegan, a native Memphian, enrolled at CBU in 2009 as a major in Mechanical Engineering. As a student, she was active in student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. During her senior year, she was a member of the student team that designed and built a moonbuggy for NASA’s 20th annual Great Moonbuggy Race in Huntsville, AL. The CBU team finished the race in 38th place, crossing the finish line on a course that was actually harder and more rigorous than in any previous year.

Mariel graduated cum laude in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. She began working at Gala Engineering during her senior year and is still employed there, currently as an HVAC Mechanical Consultant.

She has been an active member of the Memphis Chapter of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for nearly 10 years, and has held several board positions during that time — including the position of Chapter President in 2019, for which she received the Chapter Service Award. Currently, she is the Student Activities Committee Chair, and has received the ASHRAE Region VII award for Top Chapter in Student Activities, which recognized her work promoting HVAC to college and K-12 students.

Mariel also volunteers promoting STEM to children. She has volunteered with the FIRST Lego League for the past six years, serving as a judge, referee, moderator, and head judge. She received the honor of Top Volunteer in 2020.

CBU taught me many lessons. The ones that really stand out would be networking and communication skills. They taught me the importance of making connections in the professional world.