Serving as UIF Since: Fall 2015
School: Western Michigan University
What he does now: Production Support Engineer at Gentex Corporation
What that means: Help build my team to be the best they can, and support them with creative solutions to real world problems.
Contact him about: Rapid prototyping, building 3d printers, starting a makerspace, gaining traction on campus, creating excitement around ideas, cheese, hockey, anything to do with advanced hockey stats
Email: mackenzie.w.preston@gmail.com
Phone: (269)-274-8635
Mac was a University Innovation Fellow at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 2015 to 2017, he was drawn into the movement by former fellow and friend Zach Crawford. After receiving the training through UIF, Mac helped to start WMU's first Registered Student Organization (RSO) centered around empowering student design and doing cool stuff. Along with other fellows at WMU and growing collection of students Mac helped to launch WMU's first makerspace in the summer of 2017, to help give students a physical space to experiment and exchange ideas with people of many backgrounds. Through this new space he was able to interact with many new people who were poised to do many exciting projects. He had the privilege to help mentor and watch the next group of leadership work their way through the newly founded RSO and work with them through their training into the full-fledged leaders themselves. Mac lauched the new leadership and watched from afar as they contunued to grow and develpe their own culture within WMU. He recenty became a UIGuide to help foster the coming groupings of fellows in the surrounding areas.
Mac graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in the Spring of 2017 and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he discoved the thriving cheese scene and now has lost all hope of going vegan. He currently works at Gentex Corporation and a Production Support Engineer helping people work together effectively and excite and empower people to discover solutions that they did not think possible.