Name: Eric Moulton
Hometown: Sumter
Year: Senior
Major: Electrical engineering
High School: Wilson Hall

Eric Moulton is on a mission – he wants the university's top engineering students to stay in Columbia for their careers.

"The city is growing, and the opportunities for engineers are booming," he said. "It's an open canvas here."

A computer-engineering major when he arrived at USC, Moulton said he decided to pursue electrical engineering after taking a class with Dr. Tangali Sudarshan, the chairman of the department of electrical engineering.

"He was so interesting, and he was so interested in students," said Moulton, who switched majors and joined Sudarshan's Silicon Carbide Research Laboratory.

Moulton, who has had an internship with the Eaton Corp., was named a Magellan scholar to conduct research with Sudarshan. As part of his studies, Moulton worked on a patent with the research group and was an author on a scientific paper that appeared in the Journal of Applied Physics.

The president of the university's chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Moulton has seen the group grow from about 10 to 115 members over the past six months. And, Moulton is working to get a radio station established at the College of Engineering and Computing to broadcast student news and university events.

Moulton is looking forward to working for an engineering firm and then pursuing a graduate degree.

He said he's glad he chose Carolina.

"The college is open to change and new ideas. That's attractive to engineers who look at things and try to find a better way to do something."