You’ve seen Nick Selby on YouTube, BuzzFeed and CNN, and you might even spot him in your next class.

Selby, whose funny and expertly delivered speech at Georgia Tech’s convocation quickly made its way across the Internet, is a mechanical engineering student in the College of Engineering. We recently chatted with him about his life post-speech, his time at Georgia Tech, and what his plans are for that Iron Man suit.


CoE: What is your life like right now? Are you being inundated with speaking inquiries and media requests?

Nick: It’s certainly a lot of fun. I’ve been getting a lot of emails and Facebook messages and Facebook friend requests from people I don’t know. I’m having a blast with it – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.


CoE: Are you being recognized on campus a lot, and if so, by whom? Professors, students, administrators?

Nick: All of the above, which is again a lot of fun. A few people have been asking for pictures and just in general being very friendly. A few professors have called me out in class.


CoE: You’re a President's Scholar, so that must have contributed to you coming to Georgia Tech. But what else drew you here?

Nick: This school sets very high expectations of itself. It’s got incredibly high rankings, it’s got incredibly high word-of-mouth, and it’s got national prestige. So if I were to ask any of my relatives or friends across the country who know engineering and know engineering schools what school I should apply to, Georgia Tech is always one of the first ones out of their mouths. And then when I come here, with all these high expectations of the school, Georgia Tech has a knack for blowing those expectations out of the water and just going above and beyond, making itself even more amazing than what I heard.


CoE: When you graduate, what are you hoping to do? Is public speaking on the horizon now?

Nick: Public speaking is my creative outlet. It’s my art, if you will. I want to go to grad school when I graduate, and my long-term career goal is to invent something that will continue helping people after I’m gone. I think public speaking definitely plays a large part in any engineering field. It’s really important to be able to present your ideas in a clear and maybe sometimes humorous way. Something that can grab people’s attention, because that’s part of product-making.

CoE: What has been the coolest part of this whole experience for you? Is it the recognition on campus? The national fame?

Nick: That’s hard. There’s a lot of cool parts about this I’m enjoying. This is the best welcome-back-to-school that I’ve ever had! It’s almost like the entire thing is a symphony – all the recognition from media outlets, getting to do the weather, getting recognized on campus is cool, seeing my family on the news back at home. It’s like a symphony of wonderfulness.


CoE: So when can we expect the Iron Man suit from you?

Nick: Give me a few months!