Craven County man returns home to help keep America flying

— from Pathways to Success: Spring 2012 Curriculum Guide, Craven Community College

Bryan Nobles has engineered a rewarding career for himself close to home.

The 24-year-old New Bern man earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from N.C. State University through NCSU’s 2+2 partnership with Craven Community College.

Under the program, Nobles took his first two years of classes at Craven and then transferred to NCSU in Raleigh to complete his bachelor’s degree.

Now he’s back in the area and working full-time as an engineer at Fleet Readiness Center East at Cherry Point.

“This was something that Craven Community College helped me with,” Nobles said in an interview at the Havelock Campus recently. “This was a great program for me.”

Craven and NCSU have two options for mechanical engineering: Students can choose the 2+2 option and transfer to Raleigh as juniors or they can choose to complete an engineering degree entirely in Craven County through the Mechanical Engineering Systems BSE program.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Nobles was able to complete NCSU’s challenging mechanical engineering coursework. After all, he’s been solving problems and responding to challenges since an accident at age 15 left him in a wheelchair.

Nobles said he had always been pretty good at math. In high school, his teachers had encouraged him to pursue a math-related career, even when his grades earned him the nickname “B for Bryan” at New Bern High.

“I knew I wanted to get into math,” Nobles said. “A lot of times, math clicked for me. Once I got it, I got it.”

He enrolled at Craven, where he was initially interested in architecture, but later focused on mechanical engineering.

Through the 2+2 program, Nobles took high-level math classes and his initial engineering classes at Craven and then transferred to Raleigh as a junior.

Craven’s small class sizes and helpful faculty members helped Nobles navigate through the demanding engineering curriculum. The two extra years close to home also helped him to mature and be prepared for life at NCSU.

“By no means was I ready to go to State right out of high school,” Nobles said. “With engineering, you definitely have to know when to tell your friends that you can’t go out.”

After he completed his degree, Nobles said he knew he wanted to come back to Craven County. He landed a job on base, where he takes satisfaction in working on the V-22 Osprey and other aircraft that help defend the country.

“Bryan is a motivated young man who has accomplished a lot,” said Dr. Bill Fortney, NCSU’s regional director for distance engineering. “He was a strong student and is a fantastic engineer. We are very pleased when local students such as Bryan receive their engineering degrees and then return home to Craven County to work.”

For more information, contact Fortney at (252) 444-3357.