Civil Engineering Faculty Feature: Kyle Shimabuku
Responses have been edited for length and clarity:
GONZAGA: Please introduce yourself!
SHIMABUKU: I'm Dr. Shimabuku, I'm a professor in the Civil Engineering department and my area of expertise is in environmental engineering, particularly in drinking water treatment as well as studying the effects of climate change and natural disasters on our water infrastructure.
How did you become interested in this area of study?
I became interested in my area of expertise when I learned that one of the leading causes of mortality for children under the age of five is a lack of access to safe drinking water. When I recognized that my area of technical expertise within civil engineering could directly address one of the largest tragedies facing the planet right now, I couldn't stop thinking about it and decided to pursue that for the rest of my career.
What's your best piece of advice for students?
My best piece of advice for students is to think about your career as a three-legged stool. One leg should be doing work that's really meaningful and something that you're excited to get up and work on every day. You don't have to figure that out right away, you can just be thinking about what makes you curious and then pursuing those curiosities. The second one is to try to find a career where you have like-minded people, or not necessarily like-minded, but people that you feel are on a similar mission to you and that you enjoy working with. The third is to make sure that it's something that is able to provide the economic support you need to pursue things you're passionate about.
What's one thing people may not know about you?
Something people may not know about me is that I used to play in punk and hardcore bands and my first time visiting Spokane was on tour with a band called Dry Rot.