Dunwoody College of Technology is pleased to announce that this year’s student speaker for Commencement will be Engineering Drafting & Design graduate Danny Treat.
Treat has always had a lot of interests in life –Dunwoody College of Technology has given him the focus and drive he needed to steer those interests onto a promising career path.
Growing up in San Diego, Treat struggled with traditional high school but then found success at a charter school that emphasized real work experience.
With interests that spanned a wide spectrum of fields, Treat explored multiple options at a community college before admitting he just wasn’t ready for more school.
Treat was interested in several service-learning programs available through non-profit organizations. He eventually settled on a three-month commitment with Catholic Charities, helping rebuild homes in New Orleans. He continued that work with AmeriCorps, eventually serving as one of the project managers and volunteer coordinators.
A hands-on learner, Treat enjoyed the carpentry and construction aspects of the job, but he also liked the idea of helping design a project. With those interests in mind, Treat enrolled at the University of New Orleans in the naval architecture and marine engineering program.
But the four-year, traditional college model wasn’t a good fit. “There was no ‘hands-on’ learning,” Treat said, adding that it wasn’t until the final year of the program that you got to do the “fun stuff.”
By this time, Treat had met his now fiancée who was from the Twin Cities and wanted to move back to start her teaching career.
After moving to Minneapolis Treat found work installing closets and looked into joining the electrical union. Then his fiancée’s mother, who happens to be a career counselor, suggested Dunwoody as an option.
So Treat attended an Open House and checked out a number of programs eventually landing on Engineering Drafting & Design.
“When I saw the 3D printers and heard about the program, I knew that was it,” Treat said.
It was a decision he never regretted. “I felt more at home here than I did at either the community college or the four-year university,” Treat said. “I connected more.”
Treat was impressed with all of the hands-on work and has excelled in all of his coursework. Treat is also one of the 2016-17 Owen Scholarship recipients.
“I haven’t had a day when I haven’t wanted to come to school,” Treat said. After completing his current internship with Proto Labs, an on-demand manufacturer of custom prototypes using CNC machining, injection molding, and 3D printing, Treat will start a new position as a Drafter for Daikin, one of the world’s leading air conditioning manufacturers.
Commencement will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 20, at the Minneapolis Convention Center