He's walked the Great Wall of China, visited the world's largest
hydroelectric dam and talked with engineers all across the country and
now he's headed to Stanford University to work on his doctoral degree
in aeronautical engineering. Kevin Reynolds, a 2003 graduate of Halifax
County High School, has been a busy man these last few years.
On May 5 he graduated summa cum laude from Norfolk State University
with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Science
degree in mathematics with minors in electronics and aerospace
engineering. Graduation was followed by a two week trip to China where
he joined the U.S. Delegation on Engineering, organized by the
International Scholar Laureate Program, which nominates the 50 most
highly acclaimed college students all across the country.
It was on this trip that he walked about one and a half miles of the
4,160 miles long Great Wall of China, the world's longest manmade
structure. He also visited the world's largest dam which powers
electricity for five different Chinese cities and he visited Beijing
and the former capital city of Xiang. Kevin and his fellow engineers
were accompanied on their trips by Chinese engineers who discussed
their issues of flooding and potential damage from earthquakes. We
learned a lot about the problems they face in the various cities, he
said. Now he heads to California where he has been awarded a full fellowship
to continue his studies in aeronautical engineering. I've wanted to
design aircraft since I was a little boy, he says, noting that as a
local Project Idea student in elementary school he built his own plane
(made of paper), the Reynolds Explorer.
With those ideas from childhood still looming, his ambition is to
develop vertical take-off planes, and he is prepared to take on the
challenge as he continues his studies at Stanford University.