Meet Brent Frieden, College of Engineering and Applied Science Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement
Brent Frieden, the College of Engineering and Applied Science Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement
Brent Frieden competes on the CU Boulder mountain biking team in Aspen, Colorado.
Brent Frieden, born and raised in Colorado Springs is not only graduating with the highest grade point average in the college, but has been a highly involved member of the CU Boulder community and beyond. He is receiving the college's Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement award.
During the pursuit of his BS in mechanical engineering at CU Boulder, he interned with NIST, competed on the cycling team in downhill and road racing, was involved in student ministry, was a member of Engineering Honors Program and spent a semester volunteering in Nicaragua where he worked in construction, food distribution and helped run a camp for kids.
“Success is hard to define as one thing,” said Frieden. “Sometimes, it takes doing the little things well to achieve anything on a grander scale.”
He said he is most proud of the times he has worked the hardest like studying long hours for an applied math course or training for a challenging ride or climb and doing well.
Academic achievement was never the end goal, said Frieden. He said he was thankful to his parents who were satisfied so long as he was putting forth his best effort. In fact, during his freshman year at CU Boulder, Frieden said he thought he was going to fail.
“I got to CU Boulder, realized how smart everyone was and decided I needed to kick it into gear if I was going to make it,” Frieden said. “I had to work incredibly hard just to keep up with my classmates.”
As time passed, Frieden also developed exceptional time management skills and discovered the importance of attending office hours.
Much of his success Frieden attributes to his professors.
“I was learning difficult subject matter, but my professors knew the material so well and could teach it in ways that made sense,” Frieden said.
Two professors who impacted him were Assistant Professor Rong Long, who Frieden describes as a very kind person who understands everything he teaches and Assistant Professor Nina Vance, who he worked with during the development of his capstone design project, a toy for children who are hospitalized.
Frieden’s favorite courses were Physics 3 with Professor Charles Rogers who made every class entertaining, his Fluid Mechanics course with the well-prepared Senior Instructor Jeff Knutsen and Norse Mythology with Instructor Jackson Crawford, a course he said was like story time, a healthy break from his engineering coursework.
Brent Frieden works on a construction project in Nicaragua. Frieden spent a semester volunteering in Nicaragua.
Frieden said he was also thankful to be surrounded by bright students. He said his peers pushed him forward and taught him many things as they asked questions.
“It’s cool to be part of a collectively excellent program,” Frieden said.
Experiences that stretched him the most included his volunteering with a nonprofit organization in Nicaragua and his involvement as a camp counselor for high school students. He said the three months he spent in Nicaragua were a deeply humbling experience that gave him a bigger picture of the world and a glimpse into being a minority. He said his involvement as a camp counselor taught him how to use his introverted personality to uniquely lead and invest in people.
Within engineering, Frieden is most interested in product design because he said he enjoys working with his hands and coming up with new ideas. His future plans are not yet determined, but he said he would like to gain experience in industry before attending graduate school.
No matter what comes next, one thing is for sure: Frieden enjoys challenging himself.
“I’m lucky that there is always something new to learn, especially in engineering,” he said.