Robotics
IOE Ph.D. candidate Brandon Pitts is featured in a Rackham Graduate School Student Spotlight. “I found what I love and I’m running with that. When you find something you love, it will chase you; you don’t have to chase it. Opportunities come to people who put themselves in the position to receive them.” Brandon has…
IOE Ph.D. candidate Brandon Pitts is featured in a Rackham Graduate School Student Spotlight.
“I found what I love and I’m running with that. When you find something you love, it will chase you; you don’t have to chase it. Opportunities come to people who put themselves in the position to receive them.” Brandon has perspective that has been hard earned during his years in graduate school. And eight months away from finishing his Ph.D., he’s got this sense that “something is just pulling me towards the finish line.”
He came to U-M for graduate school because he wanted something different. After spending his entire life in Louisiana (where he attended Louisiana State University –LSU – for his undergraduate degree), he felt, “I wanted to live up north. In Louisiana, we consider this North, not Midwest. I have family in Detroit and it’s good to go somewhere you know other people.”
Of course, it was more than that that drew Brandon to U-M: his program, Industrial and Operations Engineering, is ranked number two in the country. That definitely was a significant factor, given the caliber of graduate faculty and students attracted to the program. And of course the National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship, that brought him here, helped as well.
Michigan required some adjusting, and it took him a couple of years getting comfortable living away from his family. “I had a lot of uncertainty about getting a Ph.D. First, I didn’t know what to expect and I wasn’t sure what would happen if it didn’t work out. I had many, many questions: what really is graduate level research? Did I make the right decision? Is this the field I really want to pursue as a career? Did I jump into it too quickly after undergrad? All of these thoughts and concerns came to mind. But now, after having spent a few years going through the Ph.D. process and allowing it to help me grow, I feel like I’ve redefined myself. Many of these questions no longer haunt me. I’m older and have a much clearer perspective on how I should live my life,” Brandon shares.