Megan and Thomas Brooks
How did you meet?
Megan: We met at Thomas' fraternity tailgate before the 2009 Ball State football game. My roommate invited me to join her when I got off work at Big Blue Bagel. When I got there, I immediately noticed this super cute guy and sat down to talk. We talked for 2 hours, right up until game time! As their spirit chair he was the gatekeeper to their football section, so he invited me to sit with him. They had a front row section, so the spots were extremely coveted. We've been inseparable ever since!
Thomas: We met while grabbing some food at a football tailgate. We sat and talked and played games until the game started, and she came to the game as my date. A couple days later, we reconnected, and within a week we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. From that point on, we were each other's best friends and we've seen or talked to each other nearly every day ever since.
What is your favorite class or organization you were part of while at Auburn?
Megan: Mine was the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Biosystems Engineering is a small department, so we were a tight knit group. That made meetings and events so much fun! We were lucky enough to attend ASABE Student Chapter conferences at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and Mississippi State where we learned amazing things and met others who shared our passion for sustainability, restoration, and conservation of our planet.
Thomas: My favorite class was orbital mechanics. It was exciting to learn how objects move in space, and I enjoy teaching our kids how the motion of the Earth and Moon cause the different phases of the moon and seasons of the year.
Where are you now? Tell us about your engineering journey after graduation!
Megan: The first 12 years of my career were spent working for Weston Solutions as an environmental engineer. The division I worked for specializes in consulting and construction services for commercial and industrial clients, focusing on mitigation of legacy contamination challenges. In 2021, Thomas and I founded American Filament, and by 2024, running the company became my primary focus. We manufacture high-quality filament for FDM 3D printers, sourcing our materials from American manufacturers to support fellow American businesses and do our part to strengthen the nation's supply chain. Transitioning into a manufacturing role was a significant shift, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that concepts from my mechanical systems, food processing, and wastewater management courses at Auburn proved invaluable in setting up and operating our equipment.
Thomas: I have worked at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for 12 years. I started off in a detailed design group where I did the thermal, structural, and/or CAD design work for an X-ray Telescope (IXPE) that is in Low Earth Orbit, several material science experiments on the International Space Station, and a lunar navigation system (Lunar Node 1) that successfully operated from the Moon in February of 2024. Now I work in Marshall's Advanced Concepts Office (ACO) where we create conceptual designs of a wide variety of space systems ranging from constellations of small satellites to Earth-to-Mars human rated transportation systems. During my free time I like to tinker. In 2018, I created a website called LithophaneMaker.com which provides a free service that helps people turn their pictures into 3D models of lithophanes for free. This led to the creation of American Filament in 2021 to produce American made filaments and alleviate the supply chain challenges that we faced at that time.
What is your favorite Auburn tradition?
Megan: My favorite has to be the eagle flight before every home game. Eagles are such magnificent creatures and watching our bird of prey soar through the stadium is an awe-inspiring sight!
Thomas: I agree with Megan. My favorite tradition is the eagle flight. It's always awesome to watch them swoop down onto the field! A close second would be rolling Toomer's corner.