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Engler is majoring in civil engineering.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, Florida – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we feature Panther men’s lacrosse player Austin Engler, who is majoring in civil engineering.
Austin, who hails from Davie, Florida, was a second-team All-Sunshine State Conference midfielder last season thanks to 16 ground balls, 13 of which resulted in turnovers, and five goals while working in a senior defensive role.
He has posted nine goals, five goals and one assist in seven games this season.
Engler was named to the SSC Commissioner’s and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in 2022 with a perfect 4.0 GPA following each of his first two seasons.
Between lacrosse season and the demands of his classes with Austin, he sat down with us to explain how he does it all and how Florida Tech is helping him prepare for a career in engineering. .
■ What is your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose it? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do?
So now my major is civil engineering.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for college, a lot of math and science was built in high school. At first I was leaning more towards construction management, but with those extra credits I decided to go and study engineering.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?
I have to go with the location, the location is great. It’s like a beach town, it’s nice and I’m from Florida, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale. So being relatively close to home, it’s nice when I need to go home, I could but it’s too far to give myself some space and privacy.
■ How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?
After I graduate, I want to see if I can get my FE and PE [exams] It was done as soon as I could. The original goal was to move to the contracting side, but now having a civil engineering background for project managers is what most employers want, rather than having a more technical background. Therefore, the main focus is to go more to the construction side.
■ What are some fun projects you’ve been able to work on in the classroom?
I have two projects. During my freshman year, I was doing a lot of surveys using all kinds of cool tools and stuff like that. Just taking field measurements that are pretty much real world stuff.
I am currently working on a water distribution system. I’m designing a neighborhood, a small development, and I’m planning to push all the water lines, how the water goes to the houses, how the sewage leaves the house, all the pipes, all the pipes, all the pumps. Wherever the water is needed. I have also recently started another project, designing steel columns for large structures.
■ A lacrosse season is usually about three months long, and with so many road trips and practices, how do you keep everything in balance once the season starts?
Yeah, well, not much sleep in that process. In the fall, lacrosse is a little easier because it’s a spring sport. In the fall, it’s about five practices a week, in the spring it’s six, and you’ll feel the difference right away.
Not much time off. It’s a lot of discipline, and time management, for sure. You have to be able to sleep or you won’t be able to function all day.
You have to make sure that you can stay awake in your classes because if you don’t stay awake then they will play you trying to figure out what’s going on each day.
■ What will you take away from being a college athlete that prepared you for your current career and the field you are applying to?
Being a college athlete has helped me 100% in what I want to do because I get up every day at 6:00 and 5:30 AM to practice. It’s the real world in the construction industry, and in that industry you work really hard hours.
Playing a physical contact sport like lacrosse can definitely help you get stronger and ready for the real world. Another important thing is definitely discipline.
Our trainer has extremely high standards and you cannot fall below that line or he will let you know. Every day is on time to practice, there are no exceptions to delay. Both on and off the field, academics are top notch. Here you have to meet all the standards to play in the team.
■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech interested in civil engineering?
I would tell that athlete to definitely talk to current civil engineering professionals who play sports because it’s one thing to say you want to be an engineer, but it’s another thing to take all the classes and do it.
Going in, I didn’t think it would be this difficult, but it is extremely demanding and extremely difficult.
So, talking to current students and stuff like that can help you mentally prepare and know what you’re getting into. It makes you ready when they all hit you at once because there is so much coming at you.
■ What have you enjoyed most about your time with the lacrosse program?
Definitely, the group of guys here, this program is definitely special. I’ve been in many groups my whole life growing up and the fraternity here is like no other, to be honest, it looks dirty, but it really isn’t because we all go through such tough lessons.
You have brutal training schedules, but when you put up with it all at once, it really brings you together, creating a great bond.
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