Matthew Jackson — Distinguished Service Award

Matthew Jackson

Matthew Jackson
B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering
Graduated from Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona

Once Matthew Jackson got on the engineering track he set himself apart as a distinguished member of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering community.

Jackson, who is also an honors student with Barrett, the Honors College and a recipient of the Regents High Honors Endorsement Scholarship, was inspired by his aerospace and civil engineer parents, but he didn’t initially choose to study engineering.

“Originally I was actually a marketing student,” Jackson says. “Though after much thought I switched to engineering as I could always do engineering and go into marketing in industry, but I couldn’t do marketing and go into engineering.”

He chose to study electrical engineering because of a love of electronics, mathematics, and a circuits introductory lesson in a high school physics course, but he still struggled to decide if that was the right major for him.

When he discovered signal processing during his electrical engineering studies, Jackson knew he was on the right path as he saw a degree in electrical engineering could lead to a wide variety of jobs, from medical to entertainment opportunities.

Since discovering the versatility of an engineering degree, Jackson has gone above and beyond to help incoming freshmen discover that potential, as Associate Professor Michael Goryll did for him.

“The most rewarding experience at ASU has been helping students just starting in engineering to discover what they can do with the various engineering degrees and all the potential at ASU with its class, research and industry opportunities,” Jackson says.

He has been a Fulton Ambassador leading tours of ASU’s engineering facilities and talked to prospective students at high schools; participated as a Summer Engineering Experience (SEE) and E2 camp counselor for high school students and incoming students to discover and start their engineering paths; mentored students as both a Barrett and a Fulton Schools mentor for honors freshman and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering students; and served as an undergraduate teaching assistant for the FSE 100 lab courses and provided input to describe Fulton Schools programs as an ASU 101 section leader.

When he’s not studying engineering he likes to do things outdoors like playing soccer and rock climbing. His engineering education even let him combine the two with a summer semester studying abroad in Costa Rica where he got to go whitewater rafting, rappelling, hiking and spent time exploring the rainforest.

After graduation Jackson plans to continue his education as part of the 4+1 accelerated program to obtain his master’s in electrical engineering with a concentration in signal processing and communications. Drawing on his knowledge gained from the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI) and his honors thesis on electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from the brain, he hopes to find a meaningful career he enjoys that makes people’s lives better.