Mother, son to earn graduate degrees together at Montana Tech’s commencement
Nearly 200 students will walk across the graduation stage when Montana Technological University celebrates Commencement on Dec. 14, among them two graduates who have an extra special bond.
Dawn and Matthew Ingersoll are a mother-son duo from Butte, who will both be awarded master’s degrees. Dawn (B.S. Business, ’01) will earn her Master of Project Engineering and Management degree, while Matthew (B.S. Environmental Engineering, ’23), will earn a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering degree. For Matthew, the achievement is a natural progression, as he was on a carefully tailored accelerated track to complete a bachelor’s and master’s in five years. Dawn’s journey took a little longer.
“I had taken classes previously, just never went through the final steps to do a presentation and then apply for graduation,” Dawn said. “Matthew told me that he was going to graduate with his master’s before me because of my procrastination. That was the motivation I needed to finally complete the requirements and graduate.”
Dawn says the program was tough because she also works 50-60 hours a week and is raising her family.
“If there is a will, there is a way,” she said. “Going through this together has given me that extra motivation to keep plugging away to be able to graduate with my son.”
Matthew’s experience was different from Dawn’s. As an undergraduate he conducted research sponsored by the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory and completed an internship at Montana Resources.
“It made sense to pursue a master’s degree related to the mine site, where I could continue an internship,” Matthew said. “This led to me gaining more experience in industry, as well as obtaining an advanced degree in engineering.”
Matthew’s master’s thesis focuses on recovery of critical minerals zinc and manganese from the Berkeley Pit.
“The biggest challenge was time management,” Matthew said. “There are a lot of moving parts in a thesis-based masters: literature review, procurement of supplies, experimentation, writing, etc. All of these have to be balanced with timeline, scope, budget, and desires of committee and industry.”
Matthew’s personal triumph’s included achieving recovery results that are desirable enough for the research to progress further by way of future master’s projects. He’s also proud of his increased knowledge in engineering and project management, as well as the relationships he’s grown or gained.
Matthew says all the hard work was worth it.
“It has been very difficult, but at the same time has been one of the best experiences,” he said. “Even though the workload of the program has been hard to handle, I know that the time I have spent at Montana Tech has been worth it, and I am hopeful my career will benefit from it.”
Matthew’s advice for prospective students is simple.
“If you are looking for a high-level education in STEM fields for a fraction of the cost of other universities, Montana Tech is a great university,” he said. “The people I have had the opportunity to work with or learn from has been much more personal than a bigger university would be.”
Dawn also had words of wisdom for those dreaming of graduation one day.
“Don’t give up,” she said. “The hard work is worth it.”