Matt Aggleton | Undergraduate Mentoring Program

Title:

Process Engineer

Company:

General Atomics

Education:

Ph.D. Chemical and Materials Physics - UCI

M.S. Chemical and Materials Physics - UCI

B.S. Physics - Rochester Institute of Technology

Career Path:

Fresh out of graduate school I taught physics and math for one year at an art college.

After that, I worked in aerospace engineering in a variety of roles including engineering management, new aircraft development, production planning, and R&D over the course of 10 years.

During 2020 I found myself very briefly teaching physics again, this time at Chapman University. Overlapping that, I started working for General Atomics, stationed at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, as a process engineer in target fabrication for the National Ignition Facility. I am responsible for process improvements, troubleshooting emergent issues, and helping to develop new capabilities and production techniques.

Career Experience:

Aerospace Manufacturing, Process Engineering

Affiliations:

American Physical Society :: ASM International :: American Welding Society

Personal Interests:

I enjoy discussing scientific issues, from both social policy and educational perspectives. I participate in local trivia nights when possible and enjoy swimming.

I also play ultimate frisbee, disc golf, and racquetball. I am a fan of live theater and hockey, attending both as frequently as is reasonable.

Type of Students:

I'm happy to plan on 1-2 virtual meetings/month and am very available via email and text on a regular basis.

My focus is on students with questions about transitioning out of academia, whether to industry or a national lab setting.

Number of Students I can Mentor:

Joined Date:

10 years 8 months ago

Ideal Mentoring Relationship:

While I prefer sitting down in person, living in the Bay area makes that difficult. I anticipate keeping in regular contact with my mentee via email and text, and scheduling a virtual meeting 1-2 times per month.

I find the best mentoring relationships need to be driven by the mentee. I am not going to badger you to meet with me, but will work with you to figure out how to do so in a way that works best for you.

This program is for the mentee, so know that you'll get out of the program what you put into it.

Remote Mentor:

YES