Meet your Engineering Senator — Cooper Karras

Cooper Karras always knew he wanted to be an engineer.

As a young boy, Karras was a hands-on child eager to learn, build and explore. That desire makes his position as the senator of the USU College of Engineering that much better.

Karras is from Ogden, Utah, a short car ride away from Utah State. In addition to a passion for technology, he loves being outside, hiking, skiing and running. Although Karras is majoring in civil engineering, his ultimate goal is to attend law school to become a patent attorney.

“I always wanted to be a part of building the future,” Karras said. “Figuring out how things were created and the legal processes that went into that made me want to pursue civil engineering and law.”

Growing up, Karras was also interested in house design.

“I wasn’t necessarily doing mathematical equations or beam deflections for fun,” Karras said, “but my knowledge gave me the opportunity to have some internships and learn about working with design and homes.”

It was because of those experiences that he began to look into engineering at USU.

While still in his junior year, Karras is an ambitious and bright student. Civil engineering covers a wide range of construction. Anything from dams and pipelines to the foundations of buildings are the result of a civil engineer’s work. This requires a lot of attention and focus.

Karras, who has previously worked as a draftsman for houses, explained just how much math and physics went into building the structure and foundations of a building, whether it be wood, steel or stone. Civil engineers must understand how these materials will act with certain soils and pH levels within the building locations.

His passion and desire for involvement set Karras on the path toward becoming the senator of the College of Engineering.

“When I was a freshman, I started the club golf team,” Karras said. “I was the vice president and co-founder. The next year I became the president. At the same time, I also became the vice president of ASCE, which is the departmental society for civil engineers. These really helped me see how much I enjoyed being involved on campus.”

Karras went looking for more ways to become involved. This led him to the Engineering Council.

“I really enjoyed the events and the advocacy we did as the council trying to help engineers kind of see beyond the classroom. I started looking for the best ways I could further my college and felt like running for the senate position to advocate for the causes I saw engineers were passionate about was the best option,” Karras said.

Kristina Glaittli, one of the advisors for the Engineering Council, met Karras last year and expressed her gratitude for him.

“Cooper is a team player. He is very committed in helping students and becoming an advocate for their unheard voices,” said Glaittli. “He’s a broad thinker and is able to look forward in order to make things better while sharing his vision properly with people. I can really tell he wants engineering students to have the best experience they possibly can.”

Running for the senator of a college consists of long hours campaigning and the courage to reach out to speak with passing students. If you get the position, you must put aside time to head your council, sit through board meetings and plan events. Karras does all three while completing his schoolwork.

“Like all senators, I sit on the Academic Opportunity Fund Board. All of us want to create lasting differences on individual students. Luckily, a lot of engineering students attend conferences or have research to display which the academic opportunity fund plays a role in. It’s nice for me to see how these students are representing Utah State while all over the United States,” said Karras.

He added that seeing what his fellow engineers do while away gives him insight into how to provide more opportunities and experiences for them.

Thomas Bradshaw ran against Karras for the senator’s position last year but there aren’t any hard feelings. This year, Bradshaw is the Engineering Council president and works closely with Cooper.

“One of the things that has really impressed me about Cooper is his connection to the students he represents,” said Bradshaw. “He seems to know a large portion of these students. He has a sincere desire to help voice their need to the College of Engineering.”

Bradshaw also commented on Cooper’s willingness to fight for those he represents.

“I have seen him advocate strongly for students before the college administration. Both he and I, as senator and Engineering Council president, meet monthly with the dean to update him on council progress and to advocate for the students. Cooper has done a great job at understanding the students needs and bringing them to the dean, and already in his first semester, I have seen him make significant strides in this endeavor,” Bradshaw said.

In comparison to other college councils, engineering has one of the largest ones. There are 28 active clubs within the college itself.

“It’s a big deal because they are having weekly meetings and weekly events to try and get other students to join them. I want to be able to be there and support them.” Karras said.

Because of differential tuition, Karras said he and the council are able to plan many activities for students.

“The extra money gives us leeway to put on bigger events and a higher quantity of socials,” Karras said. “I mean, our college gets to put on a whole week of engineering events that other colleges don’t.”

The increase in participation makes Karras proud and determined to continue making the college an inclusive place. Academic events are helpful, but engineering is not the easiest major. 

“It’s important these students have time to relax,” Karras said. “We all relate to one another. It creates an excellent camaraderie within the college.”

It isn’t just students that can see Karras’ passion. It’s professors, too.

“I have known him for a couple years as he has attended USU,” said Dr. Paul Barr. “It doesn’t surprise me that Cooper is the Engineering Senator. He has always been passionate about helping students and trying to improve things. Not only that, but he is fun to work. I can see great things in the future for Cooper. He is the kind of person that you want good things to happen for him.”

With Karras’ determination, if he has his heart set on something, he’s going to achieve it. He puts the needs of others above his own and understands the challenges others go through. 

“I’m here to help,” said Karras. “I want to make a change.”

@dillydahle