Auburn Family's support creates extraordinary student experience

Ben Timm is going places. And the Auburn Family is with him every step of the way.

The senior mechanical engineering major received his diploma during spring graduation weekend — the culmination of years of hard work. But as is the case with the best adventures, it’s not just the destination he’s celebrating, it’s also the journey.

An Auburn Journey

Born and raised in Auburn, Timm set his sights on the Plains early. Engineering came just as naturally. It’s in his blood.

“I’ve always loved how things work. If I can see the gears, I know how to fix it,” Timm said. “That’s what drew me to mechanical engineering — you get to understand the mechanics and then have a measurable impact with what you learn.”

Raised in a family shaped by engineering and service at Auburn, the university has always been part of his story, long before his first day of class. His father has spent his career teaching civil engineering at Auburn, his mother serves the university community through her work with Auburn Cares and his sister followed her own engineering path on campus before pursuing graduate school elsewhere — a legacy that helped shape not just what Timm studies, but how he approaches his work.

Known affectionately across campus for his role as a cheerleader and the “Mic-man,” he has led countless members of the Auburn Family in classic favorite cheers like Bodda Getta. But even more than his role on gameday, Timm’s robust student experience has shaped and equipped him for a bright future after he graduates.

In high school, he earned dual-enrollment credit with Southern Union State Community College through a Career Technical Education program. That experience not only provided practical, hands-on learning in mechanical engineering, it also opened the door for unique experiential learning at Auburn.

Timm has received multiple scholarships, and thanks to additional philanthropic investment, he has been able to teach and work in a state-of-the-art design lab since he first stepped on campus as a freshman. His work in the Design and Manufacturing Lab, part of the Montgomery Advanced Manufacturing Laboratories, transformed his Auburn experience from great to exceptional.

A Project with Purpose

For Timm, engineering is most powerful when it improves someone’s day-to-day life. That philosophy comes alive in the Heads Up project, a student-led effort to design a custom neck brace for Larry Green, who lives with Dropped Head Syndrome.

Unlike traditional class assignments, Heads Up is a voluntary, real‑world project — and one that demands as much empathy as engineering skill. Alongside a small team of fellow students and faculty advisors, Timm spent months iterating designs, meeting regularly and testing prototypes that balance rigidity, comfort and dignity. And after several versions that missed the mark, the team developed a brace that worked for Green — refined through collaboration, patience and a commitment to getting it right.

“There’s a huge difference between designing something on a screen and designing something for a person,” he said. “When you’re working with someone directly, you see the impact in real time.”

The team’s work progressed through multiple versions, each shaped by feedback and hands‑on testing using advanced tools like motion capture technology. Donor-supported resources and access to state-of-the-art facilities have made that level of experimentation possible — and meaningful.

Heads Up is more than a project. It’s a glimpse into the kind of engineer — and Auburn graduate — he hopes to be: one who listens first, designs with intention and never loses sight of the human behind the solution.

“Donor support makes a huge difference for students and student experiences,” Timm said. “Their support means the difference between having to work a job and being able to work on projects with real-life impact like this.”

An Auburn Future

After graduation, Timm will attend graduate school at Auburn and then work as an engineer who designs with people — and impact — in mind. Like generations before him, his path has been strengthened by the entire Auburn Family, not just his own. Through donor‑funded scholarships and philanthropic investment in laboratories and hands‑on opportunities, he was given the freedom to learn deeply, lead confidently and pursue work that puts people first.

“There’s something really special about a donor pouring into the student experience,” he said. “Giving to scholarships, labs and places where we can do the work and get our hands on equipment we’ll use in industry is an investment not only in our time at Auburn, but in how prepared we are when we leave.”