Sirak Seyoum

Sirak Seyoum is a 1993 Electrical Engineering Grad currently living in San Francisco. Sirak grew up in Gondar in northern Ethiopia idolizing sports legends such as Pele and Abebe Bikila, which inspired his love for the outdoors and pushed him to engage in college sports, while also excelling academically in the Electrical Engineering program at Michigan Technological University.

While also perusing his career, Sirak is taking his 11 years worth of climbing experience to the top of the world during the summer of 2019. If he succeeds, Sirak will become the first Ethiopian to conquer the world's tallest mountain. He will be taking time off from his position at Cargill Corp for his expedition to conquer Mount Everest not only for personal success, but to benefit a new Ethiopian trust fund to rehabilitate street children.

Sirak discovered his passion for climbing more than 11 years ago and he has conquered countless mountain ranges around the world. Check out the photos on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sseyoum

Why did you choose Michigan Tech? I knew right away during my orientation week that Michigan Tech in Houghton was going to be my home away from home. The fact that Tech was huge on research and development was also a plus.

Tell us about a memorable experience you had with a class or about a favorite professor. My favorite professor was our EE Prof Lewis, he was always calm and patient. His office door was always open and available when students needed him.

Now, how about a memorable experience outside of class? The soccer matches we participated sticks out most of all. I was part of the team who started Michigan Tech Soccer, though we weren't varsity we were invited to play friendly matches with other varsity soccer teams. We had lots of talented players on our team and hope they are all doing great.

How well did Michigan Tech prepare you for your career? Discipline, commitment and hard work were the key principles Tech professors passed along to me.

What was your first job after graduation and how has your career progressed? It was difficult landing a job initially but I persisted and tutored CSU engineering students to stay on course when I stayed with my mom right after graduation in Cleveland, Ohio. My first job took me to Kuwait as an Electrical design engineer. A year later I took my EIT (known as FE) and passed it the first time. I came back to the states after my contract ended and started working for AEC Corp, in Woodale, Illinois.

Tell us about a few of your career highlights and notable achievements: Finding out the "SafeLane" Technology was developed and researched at MTU as a current Cargill employee. A former Cargill Employee (Mech Eng ) and I developed a prototype that alerted drivers of one of the largest Caterpillar dump trucks in Cargill's underground salt mine. This provided audio/visual alerts to avoid colliding onto the mine ceiling while offloading mined rock salt in the massive grinders. The prototype functioned for 6-8 months before any adjustments were needed saving a significant amount of money for Cargill.

Please tell us why you share your time, talent, and treasure to support Michigan Tech students and/or alumni or volunteer in your community: I have always been eager to share, support and motivate Tech students /students in general. The rewards one gets from motivating another that resulted in success is more satisfying that anything.

What advice on being successful would you give to Tech students and young alumni? My advice is to never give up on dreams and aspiration. Both personal life and academically.

Would you share your philosophy of life? 1) Be forgiving 2) Do no harm 3) Help a stranger 4) Be nice to nature, recycle. 5) Don't be afraid of the unknown.

Sirak has climbed many lower grade mountains in California and Nevada (some multiple times) but listed here are the notable mountain tops Sirak has conquered, all of which were a first for Ethiopian flags:

United States - (2008 -2019)

Mt. Rainier WA

Mt. Whitney CA - several times,

Mt Shasta CA - several times

Mt. Wilson NV – several times,

Mt Charleston NV - several times

Griffith Peak, NV – several times

Black Mountain, NV – several times,

Bridge Mountain, NV – several times

Mummy Mountain NV – several times,

Rainbow Wall, Red Rock Canyon, NV - several times

Mexico - 2014

Nevado de Toluca, 4680 meters

Nepal –2016

Mt Kalapathar, 5644 meters

Island peak, 6189 meters

Peru - 2015

Mt. Chopicalqui, 6345 meters

Mt. Pisco, 5752 meters

Mt. Urus, 5423 meters

Mt. Ishinca, 5530 meters

Ecuador - 2014

Mt Cotopaxi, 5897 meters

Mt Chimborazo, 6263 meters

Mt Antisana, 5704 meters