December 16, 2024 A student’s love for sports and materials science Written By: Emma Conway Departments: Materials Science & Engineering Categories: Students In a Q&A, Logan Ertl shares how his passion for golf led him to UW-Madison and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering Logan Ertl he/him How many years have you been in MS&E? I am a senior and will be graduating in May. Where is home to you? Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, so just outside of Milwaukee. What made you choose UW-Madison and MS&E? I first decided to go out to South Dakota to play football, and then I changed routes. I decided to come here because the engineering school is super strong. I came in as a biomedical engineering major, and then I found out about material sciences from an article about golf clubs. It was basically about how TaylorMade has created their new driver. It talked about how materials science helped them develop different materials for the face of the clubs, like switching from a titanium to a carbon face. I read that and knew that I was way more interested in something like that – being able to mix sports, something I am interested in, and school. So I switched to materials science my freshman year, and I have stuck with it since. “I read that and knew that I was way more interested in something like that – being able to mix sports, something I am interested in, and school. So I switched to materials science my freshman year, and I have stuck with it since.” -Logan Ertl And you are a part of the Club Golf UW. How long have you been a part of that organization? I joined my freshman year. Then, my sophomore year I played in a bunch of regional tournaments. Junior year I took over as vice president of the club, before taking over as regional director. This year, I took over as president. What does it look like to be a member of Club Golf UW when considering the different leadership positions you have held? We have two practices a week at Vitense or SevenIron Social. Then, we have a tournament almost every weekend, starting in the middle of September through May. We have three regional tournaments and then the national tournament, which is at the end of each semester. As a director, I work with RecWell to get funding. We also fundraise to be able to attend these tournaments. And then I help with the practice schedule for 120 or so members. And I heard you just got back from nationals. Can you tell me more about that? It was Thursday, December 5 to Sunday, December 8 down in North Carolina at Pinehurst, which is one of the top resorts in the country. We were one of 30 teams in the championship. As a team, we finished 22nd. Individually, I placed 50th out of 350 kids. How has being a part of Club Golf shaped your experiences as a student? Coming in as a freshman, helped me gain a lot of friends who share a common interest. Working together, playing together helped us develop friendships with other players. But it also helped us develop other skills. Being the president is a lot of work, but it has taught me how to manage my time better and also how to be a leader for a lot of different people. It has really helped me grow as a student and as a person overall. It has also helped me in finding my interests. It has helped me secure internships and jobs. I am applying to a lot of golf places to work and develop golf clubs for them. So being in the Golf Club has helped me tremendously. Logan (middle) with some of his Club Golf UW Teammates at a winter festival. How has your experience been within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering? My favorite thing about materials science over every other department in engineering is that you get to meet all your professors. If you want to have 1:1 mentorship from a professor, you can. We typically have 25-30 students in a class, which is why I love Materials Science and Engineering. That way, you can meet all your peers because you’re having all the same classes together, which is really nice also. Where do you hope to be after graduation? Starting out, I want to live a little closer to home in Chicago. But then, because most of the organizations are out in Arizona or California, I hope to be working at one of those golf companies in the next five years. Read more student stories on the MS&E Blog.