If Lafayette-native Keith Cangelosi could spend every day in his dad’s machine shop, fabricating custom racing parts, that would be OK by him.
“We built a shop from scratch and ... really started a passion,” he says. “I learned everything with a manual and the drive to never give up,” adding that building the shop not only gave him and his father the ability to build custom parts, but also establish an understanding of how things are made.
Although he’s been able to leverage his passion for machining in his current role as manufacturing coordinator, he knew to progress in his career he would need more.
Keith, now 27, earned his bachelor’s in Industrial Technology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2013.
Looking around his field, he saw a lot of people with the same credentials.
“I kind of felt our generation requires something to stand out,” he said. “Everyone has degrees now.”
Keith was soon hired by an oil well construction and fabrication company in Lafayette. Almost just as quickly, he began looking for a path of upward mobility and started researching his options.
In 2015, Keith reached out to Dr. Jim Lee, who wears several hats as the Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering professor, and Department of Industrial Technology graduate faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
At the time, Keith was afraid that to acquire the edge and credentials he needed to advance, he might need a second bachelor’s degree, which would be difficult or impossible while working full time. But Dr. Lee had another idea.
As Dr. Lee asked Keith about his career goals, the professor told Keith there was a new, better option that would allow him to continue working: the masters in systems technology.
Keith was among the earliest students to enroll in the program, the only online Master of Science in Systems Technology in the Southern region.
It’s designed to equip professionals in technology and engineering fields with the knowledge, skills, and cutting-edge tools for developing solutions to complex systems problems, and prepares graduates to pursue upper and mid-level technical and managerial roles.
That made perfect sense for Keith, who was interested in engineering but wanted to eventually land in management.
He was able to continue working and traveling for his job, as well as maintain his machining hobby with his father.
However, in the middle of pursuing his master’s, Keith changed jobs, moving from Lafayette to Baton Rouge. As he got up to speed in his new position, Keith focused on getting the job done instead of punching the clock, which sometimes meant irregular hours.
His new schedule fit well with his online education.
“I always allocated time to do it; procrastination wasn’t an issue,” he says. “I’d get off work usually kind of late and I could listen to the lectures and do my reading between 8 and 10 o’clock at night,” easing in and out of the coursework at his own pace.
He said he also never felt far from his instructors, even though he wasn’t seeing them face-to-face.
“I really enjoyed a lot of the teachers that I worked with ⏤ Mrs. (Corinne) Dupuy, especially,” he said. “I had questions all the time, and she always found time to answer them and even call me. Even though there was distance, I felt very close, closer than I felt to some of my professors I saw in school two to three times a week (during undergrad).”
Keith completed his degree in May 2018.
He said he knows his employer looks for advanced degrees when filling management roles, and Keith said he feels well-positioned should an opening come available.
But, he said, he didn’t pursue his advanced degree as a means to an end.
“The reason I did it was to stand out and as a way to prove myself,” he said.
For now, Keith continues to build on his experience and knows whenever he visits home, he’ll have a to-do list from his dad of new fabrication orders to tackle.