Mississippi native Reggie King works as a design engineer, creating 3D models for TK Elevator. He loves design work and was always interested in modeling, but it was his mentor during his time at MATE that encouraged him to learn. Now, it’s his full-time job.

He first got involved with MATE when he was attending Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Though he competed with the team in competitions, Reggie just had his hands in a few tasks and was mostly intimidated by the whole thing. When he switched from pre-engineering to the automotive program, he left MATE behind. But after graduating and working in a fabrication shop for a while, he decided that wasn’t the path for him and returned to community college to study engineering technology.

Reggie joined the MATE team again, and this time, he stopped taking the backseat. By his second year, he was CEO of the team and did all the design work for the vehicle. 

“Competing in the MATE competition taught me to trust my capabilities, convinced me to finish my bachelor’s degree, and showed me my enjoyment of 3D modeling,” Reggie said.

After graduating community college, he enrolled at Mississippi State University to study mechanical engineering. He got a job out of college with steel fabrication company Hol-Mac and worked there for over a year before getting hired into his current position with TK Elevator. He says his favorite thing about engineering is getting to tinker around with different things and create new products—a passion he hopes to one day bring to automotive design.

His advice for current MATE participants? “Get involved. If you just sit back, you’re not going to get anything out of it. Watching doesn’t mean you’re going to learn anything.”

Reggie took his own advice during his time with MATE, and it’s served him well.

Current Title
Designer

Keep up with Reggie on LinkedIn!