Barrett Lemons

Mechanical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Class of 2030

Portrait of Barrett Lemons

About

I’m a freshman studying mechanical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the Chancellor’s Honors Program and the Cook Grand Challenge Engineering Honors Program. I previously worked at Knoxville Utilities Board in electric systems engineering, and I’m currently looking for a summer 2027 internship in energy, utilities, or manufacturing engineering.

Barrett Lemons delivering the valedictorian address at a podium in cap and gown
Delivering the valedictorian address, Central High School, 2026.

Experience

Electric Systems Engineering Intern

Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB)

Jun 2025 – Jul 2025; Dec 2025 – Jan 2026

I split my time between office design work and field inspections, roughly a third of it in the field, verifying customer complaints and confirming structure locations that GIS records couldn’t reliably provide.

Field inspections, Knoxville Utilities Board.

Fulton High School greenway relocation

When the City of Knoxville planned a new greenway near Fulton High School, an existing utility pole and its service line had to move to make room. I designed the pole relocation and the redesign of the adjacent service line, using PLS CADD to run finite element analysis on the affected poles. The work was reviewed and approved by a KUB engineer.

Printed CAD drawing of the Woodland Avenue pole relocation, marked up with a ruler and colored pens
My working draft of the Woodland Avenue pole relocation.

Central Magnet Academy service design

For a new sign at Central Magnet Academy, I independently developed two alternative electric service designs, one underground and one pole-mounted, iterating through several rounds of revision before final review and approval. That project also taught me a lasting lesson: after my drafts were sent back several times for small compliance issues, I went through KUB’s full specification book line by line rather than guessing. It’s fine to ask for help when you’re stuck, and sometimes the fix is slowing down, not working harder in the same direction.

Two monitors showing Civil 3D with the Central Magnet Academy service design and the two lettered service options
Working through Option A (pole-mounted) and Option B (underground) for the Central Magnet Academy service design.

I also reviewed and marked up corrections on drawings prepared by other engineers before they went out.

Created approximately 10 technical drawings and revisions to support cost estimates for utility projects in the $20,000+ range.

Paper drawing marked up with red-pen corrections and annotations
Reviewing a colleague’s drawing.

2D-to-3D conversion

I also converted a legacy 2D assembly drawing into a 3D model, enabling quick angle adjustments and eliminating repeated manual redraws for a colleague. The four views shown here (top, right, back, isometric) are that model.

The legacy 2D drawing I converted into this 3D model, eliminating repeated manual redraws for a colleague.
Four graduates in caps and gowns wearing KUB TeenWork stoles
With fellow KUB TeenWork participants at graduation.
TVPPA Fundamentals of Distribution Circuit Analysis training binder beside a handwritten notepad of circuit formulas
Studying KUB’s distribution engineering training materials.

Additional Experience

Office Assistant

Department of Enrollment Management Communications, University of Tennessee

Aug 2026 – present

  • Prepare and route outgoing mail and informational packages for prospective-student communications, balancing a 10-hour weekly commitment alongside a full engineering course load.

Server

Holston Hills Country Club

May 2026 – Jun 2026

  • Built an Excel spreadsheet to track ABC license compliance, helping prevent audit issues.
  • Served guests in a fast-paced country club dining room, balancing multiple tables while maintaining service standards.

Lifeguard

Holston Hills Country Club

Apr 2025 – Aug 2025

  • Monitored pool area and enforced facility rules to keep a secure environment.
  • Conducted routine equipment inspections to ensure functionality and safety compliance.

Lifeguard

City of Knoxville — Ed Cothren Pool

Apr 2024 – Aug 2024

  • Performed 2 water rescues and delivered first aid during emergency safety incidents.

Involvement

Student Space Technology Association (SSTA), Hypersonics Team

Fall 2026 – present

Render of a hypersonic vehicle design by the Student Space Technology Association
SSTA’s winning design from the 2025 Undergraduate Hypersonic Flight Design Competition.

EF 157 Glider Design Project

Aug 2026 – present

Helping coordinate a 5-person team designing a self-propelled, self-launching glider for a competitive accuracy and payload-delivery tournament, working through trade-offs in wing loading, descent profile, and launch mechanism design.

UTK Ballroom Dance Team

Member

Education

Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Expected May 2030

  • Chancellor’s Honors Program
  • Cook Grand Challenge Engineering Honors Program
  • Recipient: Volunteer, Flagship, and Ned McWherter Scholarships

High School Diploma

Central High School, Knoxville, TN

May 2026

  • Valedictorian — GPA 4.60 — ACT 34
  • Tennessee State Seal of Biliteracy (English/Spanish)

Skills

  • AutoCAD & Civil 3D Design
  • 3D Modeling & Visualization
  • Technical Documentation
  • Safety Compliance & Standards
  • Microsoft Office Suite
  • Bilingual: English / Spanish (Tennessee State Seal of Biliteracy)