After crossing the stage to accept his BS in chemical engineering, Owen Pittman will head to Alaska for a backpacking expedition before entering basic training for the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program in July.
He is joining a select group of engineers, based in Washington D.C., who are responsible for managing the nuclear propulsion systems that power America’s aircraft carriers and submarines.
“It’s an incredible responsibility,” Pittman said. “You’re not usually on the ships, but part of the engineering command that oversees the entire nuclear program for the Navy.”
NUPOC, which requires a minimum of five years of active duty, is known for its rigorous selection process and long-term career potential.
“I’ve always felt the call to serve the country,” said Pittman, who is following the path of his Tech alum grandfather, Lance Pittman, who joined the military after earning his degree in textile engineering from Georgia Tech in 1961.
His grandfather’s enthusiasm for the university influenced Pittman at an early age, with a gifted “Give ‘Em Hell, Tech!” pennant hanging in his childhood bedroom.
Stamps Scholar
But growing up in Huntington Woods, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit), Pittman wasn’t sure he’d be attending Georgia Tech until he got word that he’d been selected as a Stamp’s President’s Scholarship recipient – a four-year, full-ride scholarship awarded to the top one percent of incoming students, based on academics, leadership, and service.
“The scholarship gave me a built-in community from the start. Stamps Scholars are enrolled different majors across campus, but we all lived together freshman year," he said.
Making Impact
Pittman realized he was drawn to chemical engineering during high school when he worked closely with his high school chemistry teacher on extra projects outside of the classroom.
“He really saw the potential in me, and when it came time to think about college, he thought was I driven to make the kind of impact on the scale that chemical engineers do,” remembered Pittman. “At the heart of chemical engineering is impact, but the same time incorporating some chemistry.”
During summer 2023, he interned at ExxonMobil’s operation in Mont Belvieu, Texas, where he learned about its massive operational scale. “I worked at the largest plastics plant in the world, with thousands of pounds of plastic produced every hour,” he said. “It was amazing to see. There is massive demand for the products that chemical engineers work on that people use every day.”
At ExxonMobil, he developed a predictive model for product quality and designed a piping system that saved millions of gallons of water annually. In summer 2024, he interned at Chevron’s Salt Lake City, Utah refinery, where he worked in the Salt Lake City refinery, evaluating emissions-reducing additives in the fluid catalytic cracking unit and recommending process improvements.
Campus Leadership
During his studies at Georgia Tech, Pittman dedicated himself to service and leadership – areas where he made a significant impact. So much so that he won the ChBE’s Chair’s Award for Outstanding Senior.
In 2024-25, he served as president of the ChBE Student Ambassadors, giving tours to prospective students and meeting with visiting alumni and donors. “The Ambassadors program was my favorite experience at Geogia Tech,” he said. “I took a lot of pride in showing in the school because it’s been so impactful in my life.”
Pittman said he also loved being a peer mentor, helping first-year students acclimate to Georgia Tech and the ChBE major. He appreciated that Tech’s coursework included lots of group projects, with professors encouraging students to work together on homework assignments.
Undergraduate Research and Activities
A course in Data-Driven Process Systems Engineering across academic levels introduced him to a PhD student, Quyen Tran, with whom he collaborated in Professor Sankar Nair’s research group. As an undergraduate researcher in that lab, he investigated how machine learning could improve the performance of activated carbon in chemical separations.
“It was the first time I really saw how data science could integrate with traditional chemical engineering,” he said.
During his early studies at Tech, Pittman played trumpet in GT Jazz Ensembles. While he eventually let that go to make room for all his activities, he continued to perform in his Delta Chi fraternity’s cover band, which played at parties and tailgates.
One of his favorite experiences at Tech was actually in Metz, France, where he participated in the GT-Europe study abroad program in summer 2022. “Metz is a more rural area, with a language barrier that forced me to learn to better communicate, providing an authentic experience,” he said. “While taking a few classes there, I was able to visit 15 countries.”
Pittman advises new ChBE majors to explore as many of the opportunities available at Tech as possible and to lean on older students for guidance.
“We love to help the younger students here,” he said. “ChBE is a unique community where it seems like everyone knows each other, no matter what year they are in the program. From other students to faculty and staff, ChBE is an incredibly supportive community.”