From makerspace to military labs: hands-on learning propels budding engineer

If Chris Humphrey, CEAS ’26, has a comfort zone, it’s broader than most. While pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering as a Cincinnatus Century Scholar, he has been seemingly everywhere at once, both on campus and in the wider community. He has performed hypersonics research during three co-op rotations with the Air Force Institute of Technology and has worked for the Air Force Research Laboratories. He has helped build custom race cars. He has volunteered at food banks, cleaned out houses with Habitat for Humanity, and judged elementary school science fairs.

He has also become adept in the 1819 Innovation Hub’s Makerspace, where he has acquired every available certification in order to paint, weld, hammer, sew or work with laser cutters and 3D printers. But if you think Humphrey might be stressed with all this activity, think again. To him, the educational life is like a playground, which is fitting because his interest in science and discovery was sparked early in life.

“As a kid I was always a very big reader,” he says. “I read the autobiography of the mostly unknown astronaut of Apollo 11 — Michael Collins.” Collins flew the command module while future UC professor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history on the lunar surface. “He was completely alone, unable to talk to Earth. I was fascinated by that.”

There were no engineers in Humphrey’s immediate family, but his grandfather was a civilian employee at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Humphrey frequently joined his grandfather at the museum, which further sparked his interest in STEM subjects. Space Camp and Air Camp soon followed. Today, as Humphrey transitions to an approaching professional career, he says he “does things based on what I did as a kid.”

Humphrey, a native of Dublin, Ohio, chose UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science because of co-op opportunities, scholarship offers and in-state tuition. Co-ops and scholarships mean that he will graduate debt-free. “I have a lot of gratitude for everything UC donors do,” he says. “They are helping many people achieve their dreams, find their purpose in life. For that they deserve all the recognition they receive.”

In his most rewarding activity related to his major, Humphrey has served as co-conference chair of UC’s Student Chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a professional organization for aerospace engineering students. “My participation in AIAA has been invaluable. It has allowed me to connect closely with students who share similar interests, and provided numerous networking opportunities that have greatly benefited both my personal and professional development.”

Because scholarships come with the expectation of community service, they have prompted Humphrey to help others in ways he never would have imagined. He has particularly enjoyed working with the AIAA K-12 STEM outreach program. As a judge at the Ohio Regional Science Fair, he was impressed by a wind tunnel that a sixth-grader constructed with help from his grandfather, and a fifth-grader’s project that explored how airplanes fly.  

Humphrey has a fluid vision of where he will work after graduation. Whether he ends up as an engineer with the military or a corporation isn’t his most important concern. “I’ll go where I’m needed, and hopefully I’ll find a spot where I can do good work and give back in the AIAA professional organization,” he says. “The most important thing is that I’m enjoying what I’m doing.”

Judging from his history, Humphrey is headed toward being happily immersed in discovery and service, wherever he lands.   

Featured image at top: Chris Humphrey is a student in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science. Photo/UC Alumni Association