In 2020 when Omar Shaheed III graduated from Berkeley High School, he initially enrolled in South Carolina State’s electrical engineering technology program.
But when Dr. Hasanul A. Basher, professor and chairman of SC State’s Department of Engineering Technology, later asked him if he was interested in studying for the mechatronics engineering degree, Shaheed went along with it.
Last December, Shaheed became South Carolina State University’s first mechatronics engineering graduate. The 23-year-old Moncks Corner native walked across the stage as the university’s first student to ever enroll in the program that combines mechanical and electrical engineering.
South Carolina State’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation (STEM-T) launched the degree in 2023.
Mechatronics engineers “design, test and manufacture smart systems in robotics, assistive technology, human-machine interaction, manufacturing and unmanned systems,” the school said in a statement.
South Carolina State has been offering a degree in nuclear engineering and engineering technology programs across multiple disciplines for years now. Observing how industries quickly head toward smarter systems and automation, the university said it began preparing engineers who can keep pace.
“Seeing Omar Shaheed become the first graduate of our mechatronics engineering program is a powerful reminder of what SC State is building for the future,” SC State President Alexander Conyers said. “His success represents both personal achievement and the university’s commitment to preparing engineers who are ready to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.”
“I’m very excited because it’s been a long time coming, but more so because it means a lot to Dr. (Hasanul) Basher and the program that someone finished,” Shaheed said.
In December, the school announced that Shaheed will start full-time with Boeing South Carolina in North Charleston in January. The facility handles the final assembly and delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“I don’t really have a specific role yet because I’ll be in the rotational program for engineering. So, I’ll be doing different engineering roles every six months,” he said that month.
While at South Carolina State, Shaheed completed four internships, with the first being with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions as a sophomore, where he worked in process control and designed an HVAC system layout, the university said.
“Then I did three with Boeing these past three summers. I’ll be going back to Boeing in January to start full-time,” he added last December.
“It did take a lot of patience with being the first student in the class. Some of the courses weren’t that set up yet in the system. So, it was like having to wait a couple of semesters, but all I can say is it was worth the wait,” Shaheed said.
