When Boluwatife Oginni ’27 (Electrical Engineering) was tasked with improving the efficiency of Roche Diagnostics’ international delivery system, he knew exactly where to start: his DesignSpine experience at the University of Indianapolis.
Roche uses custom crates to ship diagnostic instruments safely to hospitals and laboratories around the world. The crates must protect the highly technical equipment during transit while keeping production costs manageable. As an intern with Roche, Oginni was challenged to improve the designs, optimizing space and reducing costs.
It was the kind of real-world engineering problem he had been preparing to solve since his first year at UIndy.
Oginni’s path to UIndy began with a competitive case competition. During his college search, he received an invitation to participate in the R.B. Annis School of Engineering’s Case Competition. Students were divided into teams and challenged to develop solutions to a real-world problem presented by an industry partner. The winning team would receive a full-tuition scholarship to attend UIndy.
Oginni and his teammates won, earning him the financial support to pursue his education while exploring the right path for his future.
He initially chose to major in computer engineering, but after researching career opportunities and speaking with faculty members, he reconsidered. Electrical engineering offered the combination of career opportunities and hands-on learning he was looking for. It was also a familiar field; his father had worked as an electrician when the family lived in Nigeria.
“The main reason I changed majors is that electrical engineering is more in demand compared to computer engineering, and it also has a lot of fun classes when it comes to hands-on projects,” explained Oginni.
Those hands-on experiences became a defining part of his education through DesignSpine, the R.B. Annis School of Engineering’s unique project-based curriculum. Working with classmates on industry-related challenges, students learn to approach problems, develop solutions, and present their work to professional partners.
Oginni’s willingness to seek out opportunities beyond the classroom helped him land an internship with Gaylor Electric the summer after his freshman year.
“I’d heard a lot of people say it’s very hard for freshmen to get internships, but I couldn’t have that mentality,” he said. “I kept applying, and about 98% of the time I was rejected because I was fresh out of high school, but then Gaylor accepted me.”
At Gaylor, Oginni joined a team working at a commercial construction site. He gained firsthand experience building conduit, assembling receptacles and sockets, pulling wires and reading circuit schematic plans. He also learned how electrical engineers and project managers collaborate to keep complex projects moving.
“I was able to get my hands dirty,” he said. “I was able to get the perspective of an electrical engineer and a project manager on site.”
The experience also taught him the importance of asking questions and understanding the needs of a client before beginning a project. He carried those lessons back to the classroom, approaching his coursework with a better understanding of how engineering concepts translate into professional practice.
“I was learning how to ask the right questions,” shared Oginni. “There was a time I was told to do something, and I thought what I was doing was right, but I should have asked questions. One time, I was cutting, laying down, and bending a pipe. With what I’d been taught, I thought I was doing it right, but I didn’t take into account that I needed to make sure what I was doing was right by asking questions. This wasn’t something that I was doing just for fun. It was something for a real client.”
His experience at Gaylor also helped open the door to another opportunity.
UIndy engineering alumni Joseph Glassmeyer ’23 and Megan Marshall ’23, both mechanical engineering graduates, encouraged Oginni to pursue an internship with Roche Diagnostics. After a competitive interview process, he earned a place in the company’s internship program.
“Megan and Joey actually inspired me to go for the Roche internship,” he said. “I would say UIndy paved the way for me, and I also did my best by making sure I’m setting myself up for success.”
Oginni initially worked with a team responsible for diagnostic instruments used in hospitals and laboratories. The equipment helps medical professionals diagnose cancer, influenza and other illnesses.
“As an intern I was able to work on the instruments, put them together, pull them apart, getting to know every detail about the instrument,” explained Oginni. “I loved it.”
He later joined Roche’s Off-Site Implementation Center, which supports field engineers across the country with instrument installation, maintenance and removal. There, he worked under Glassmeyer’s supervision and collaborated with him on the international shipping crate project.
Drawing on his DesignSpine experience, Oginni helped develop a solution and prepare a presentation for Roche leadership.
“It’s exactly like a DesignSpine project,” he said. “I used the DesignSpine presentation as a template. I had my problem statements. I had my constraints. I had my requirements. I had what I have to do. I have every single thing in my slide. It was so helpful.”
For Oginni, the experience demonstrated how closely his education at UIndy aligned with the expectations of the engineering profession.
His work has also earned recognition beyond the University. In summer 2026, he was one of eight students selected for the ACEC Indiana Education & Workforce Foundation’s annual scholarship. Half of the recipients attended Purdue University, making Oginni the first and only UIndy student selected for the award.
“I’m the first engineering student from UIndy to earn it, and I would say it’s all thanks to UIndy, the School of Engineering, Dr. Herzog and Dr. Spicklemire,” he said.
Oginni is equally committed to creating opportunities for other students. In addition to serving as a peer mentor for first-year engineering students, he founded the UIndy chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) in 2024.
The idea started with a simple question: How could he give back to a University that had given him so much?
After learning about NSBE’s national organization and its professional development opportunities, Oginni approached his professor and mentor, Dr. Joseph Herzog, about establishing a campus chapter. Herzog supported the idea and became the organization’s faculty advisor.
“I want to create opportunities for students,” Oginni said. “NSBE is a platform where you can meet with different kinds of people, meet with industries and potential employers, and make connections.”
The chapter began with five members. By its second year, membership had doubled, and the organization is preparing to attend the NSBE national conference in Boston, Massachusetts in 2027.
Now a senior preparing to graduate in May 2027, Oginni has come full circle. He has returned to the School of Engineering’s Case Competition, this time serving alongside the judges and helping evaluate the next generation of aspiring engineers. He’s also preparing to pass the leadership of NSBE to Kephas Raimi, the chapter’s co-founder.
Meanwhile, he’s pursuing another opportunity with Roche through its accelerated development program, which could lead to a full-time position after graduation.
From a scholarship-winning case competition to internships with two prominent Indiana companies, Oginni has made the most of the opportunities available to him. And as he prepares for his next chapter, he’s leaving behind opportunities for other Greyhounds to follow.