College of Engineering / Auburn Engineering Valentines / Kyle and Hayes Cannon


Kyle and Hayes Cannon

Kyle and Hayes Cannon

Why did each of you choose Auburn Engineering?

Kyle: I grew up in an Auburn family of multiple Auburn graduates so I knew it was the right place to go. I had no idea what to do in college, so I chose Auburn Engineering because I saw the salary was decent for chemical engineers. But I stuck with it because of the people and relationships I built along the way. I have been in a couple weddings of people that I went to school with at Auburn. I also stay in touch with quite a few professors whom we had multiple classes with.

Hayes: Growing up as an Auburn local, I never seriously considered any schools outside of Auburn (though I did apply elsewhere). I am a 3rd generation Auburn graduate; it truly runs in the family. My parents met in school at Auburn, graduated, got married and stayed! I moved about three blocks after graduating high school to begin my freshman year. Scholarship money certainly solidified that Auburn would be the place for me and made things financially possible. As far as engineering, I chose this based on the reputation of the program and the classes I enjoyed most as a high school student. Friendships made in classes are what kept me going in the curriculum (even when times got tough!).

How did you meet?

We can’t truly remember the first time we met, but we did meet at Auburn. We shared the majority of our engineering classes and were friends through these classes for several years. All that together time finally *sparked* something off for us and we started dating our senior year. Our first official date was dinner downtown at Mellow Mushroom!

Where are you now?

We currently live in Prattville, AL. Chemical engineering led us both to the manufacturing work environment. We both work for the International Paper Mill located in Prattville and have been there for 10 years. The IP Prattville Mill is a containerboard production facility manufacturing what is essentially the outside paper layer of cardboard boxes. We return to Auburn frequently to spend time with Hayes' family and actively participate in recruiting functions at Auburn for International Paper as well as the Pulp and Paper Foundation.