After graduating from Oregon State University with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering in 1999, Matthew Swenson immediately pursued a career in industry, quickly excelling and continuously accepting roles of increasing responsibility. The first five years, Swenson worked at GK Machine, Inc., a small company south of Portland, designing customized agricultural equipment. Next, Swenson worked at Hyster-Yale Material Handling, most recently as the direction of product development for the counterbalanced electric truck product line while introducing eight new products into production between 2009 and 2013. Although each new role was challenging and rewarding, they progressively drew Swenson further away from science and engineering, and more towards business administration. With this gradual shift, each position demanded more focus on company profits and allowed less opportunity for Swenson to mentor younger employees in the science and engineering involved in product development. As a result, Swenson relinquished his industry career to pursue a doctorate with the specific goal to teach and mentor young engineers as a university professor.
