Engineering meets expression

Have you been inside the Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB) in the past three decades? If so, you probably noticed the eye-catching maroon mural that sprawls above the north stairway depicting a car, jet engine, gear, turbine and a pressure vessel. And maybe you wondered how this curious installation came to be.

The style of the mural lends it the look of an artifact, as if it were painted a century ago. In fact it was painted in 1995 by ME alums Brandon Shuman, Quang Nguyen and their friend Erwin. Shuman and Quang were both part of the Pi Tau Sigma undergraduate honor society, which held parties and networking events. While brainstorming ways to improve the MEB’s appearance, they decided to create a mural that would represent the breadth of mechanical engineering.

They held a competition for the best mural design in which students voted for submitted sketches that were displayed on the wall. The winning artist received a prize — and would have their work displayed in the MEB for years to come.

Once the sketch was selected, the students got to work in painting the mural. After facilities staff set up scaffolding, they scanned the sketch onto cellophane and projected the outline of the mural on the wall. They captured the sketch’s shading and detail with red brushstrokes, stippling and even hid easter eggs within the mural, including “Q” letters for Quang and a girlfriend’s name.

Neither Shuman nor Nguyen became artists. But, 30 years later, they became successful engineers while remaining good friends and staying connected with the UW.

Shuman returns to campus to mentor student groups working on startups at CoMotion, which works with UW researchers to help launch their projects. Nguyen has given a leadership seminar to ME students and looks forward to strengthening industry partnerships with the UW College of Engineering.

After the UW, Nguyen obtained both a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration at MIT. Now at Amazon, Nguyen has previously held business leadership and design roles at Blue Origin and Boeing.

“Mechanical engineering is a versatile degree that has served me well in my career,” Nguyen says. “I’ve been able to apply it to software, program management, manufacturing, finance, supply chain and production engineering.”

Shuman earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ME, and was advised by Professor John Kramlich. While working in the medical device field, he applies his mechanical engineering knowledge to how a catheter fits into a body or the movement of blood. He also drew on the problem-solving skills he learned as an engineer while working in operations management at Siemens Healthineers.

“From my perspective, ME is one of the most broad and applicable degrees you can get,” Shuman says. “I’ve relied on the world-class education I received at the UW throughout my career.”

Every year or two, Nguyen and Shuman take a photo next to the art project they pulled off years ago that still holds court over streams of students.

“We wanted to do something with longevity,” Nguyen says. “Little did we know it would still be here 30 years later.”