Washington and Lee University
As an avid skier, mountaineer, and climber, Brandon has a dream he hopes to accomplish in 2010 - climbing Mt. Everest. You can find out about his past climbs and his plan for 2010 at his website www.brandonandkristine.org Setting his sights on 2010 will give him time to raise the substantial capital needed to finance his trip.
How did he get to this point? For him, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering after W&L led to a job with an architectural engineering firm in Vail, Colorado.
He graduated from Washington and Lee with a B.S. degree in Physics-Engineering in 2000. In his own words, “I had always enjoyed numbers, problem solving, math, and physics, so I decided to major in Physics-Engineering at W&L,” where he noted that the physics-engineering faculty and small, personal nature of the department were major factors influencing his decision. “I enjoyed the small classes with Dr. Akins and Dr. Van Ness and one-on-one research and collaboration with Dr. Van Ness in solid mechanics."
"One of my favorite things about the department was my great relationships with my professors and their willingness to help out. I think my favorite engineering class at W&L was probably thermodynamics with Dr. Van Ness. I think the classes and department really taught me the details and fundamentals of mechanical engineering, some of which I still use today, though not in the complexity and detail that I did at W&L. But the concepts are still the same.”
After graduating from W&L he lived in Telluride, Colorado, taking a break from academics and pursuing skiing, mountaineering and climbing. Then he earned a masters degree in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, graduated in December 2002, and took a job with Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers in Vail, Colorado. The company specializes in mechanical, electrical, & plumbing design for high-end residential and commercial resort projects. Brandon designs all of the HVAC and plumbing and coordinates these systems with the architecture.
In the summer and winter he has been climbing the Colorado 14ers, and has climbed 52 of the 55 in Colorado. In December 2004, he climbed El Pico de Orizaba in Mexico at 18,500 feet. In January 2006, he climbed Aconcagua, Argentina at 22,841 feet, the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas, on a 16 day climb. And in June 2007 he and friends climbed Mt. Mckinley (aka Denali) in Alaska at 20,320 feet, the highest mountain in North America, in only 13 days. Mt. Elbrus in Russia was next (June 2008) at 18,500 feet, the highest mountain in Europe and Russia. How could he not take aim at Everest next?
