{"id":10005,"date":"2024-12-09T12:01:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T12:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10005"},"modified":"2025-05-12T15:34:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:34:10","slug":"timm-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=10005","title":{"rendered":"Timm Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mechanical engineering senior Ben Timm leads Jordan-Hare Stadium in a “War Eagle” as Auburn University’s new mic-man during the Tigers’ 2024 season-opener against Alabama A&M.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Timm never felt it while interviewing at schools in the Big 10. He never felt it at the schools in the Big 12. At Auburn, he felt it in the first five minutes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most schools just fly in the candidates. If the interview goes well, if things seem promising, then \u2014 for the follow-up interview \u2014 they might extend the invitation to your spouse.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Timm expected when he applied for a job as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Auburn in 2001. That\u2019s how it had been everywhere else. That\u2019s not what he got.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He knew of Auburn Engineering\u2019s reputation. The National Center for Asphalt Technology was already a household name in engineering circles. The new 1.7-mile test track had just opened. No other college in the country \u2014 no other college in the world \u2014 offered that kind of resource for research. He knew a little about Auburn football. He also knew he liked the idea of warm weather. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe flew out of Minneapolis in a blizzard,\u201d said Timm, who earned three civil engineering degrees from the University of Minnesota. <\/span><\/p>\n

What he didn\u2019t know about was the Auburn Family. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAuburn was the only school to fly out me and my wife, Jenny, for my first interview. That really made an impression on us \u2014 that they were really invested. It really set Auburn apart from the very beginning. We knew it was the place for us pretty much immediately. It was one of those perfect Auburn days \u2014 70 degrees \u2014 with all the azaleas out. It really did feel like family. It felt like something we wanted to be a part of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mission accomplished. <\/span><\/p>\n

Timm thrived \u2014 in the lab and in the classroom \u2014 logging one professional award after another.<\/span><\/p>\n

This spring<\/a>, he was named the chair of civil and environmental engineering, replacing Andy Nowak, who returned to the classroom after spending 11 years as chair. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent my entire career here,\u201d Timm said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a thrill.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But these days \u2014 23 years later \u2014 what gets his Auburn heart pumping more than anything has less to do with his new title, and more to do with his son\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven after taking over as chair,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m much better known on campus now as the father of the new mic-man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mechanical engineering senior Ben Timm celebrating Auburn’s 2010 national championship at Toomer’s Corner with his father, civil and environmental department chair David Timm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TIMM THE TOOL MAN<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Senior Ben Timm chose mechanical engineering for a lot of reasons. His grandfather was a mechanical engineer. And there was his dad\u2019s influence, of course \u2014 weekends spent on building projects, like building a working trebuchet and launching basketballs across the street while his mom and sister were away for dance competitions. And there was the thrill that came from saving his lawn mowing money and starting his own 3D printing business when he was 12 \u2014 an idea he got from attending Auburn Engineering\u2019s previous E-Day event.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Growing up, Ben Timm “spent a lot of time taking things apart and putting them back together\u201d with his father David, who earlier this year was named chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time taking things apart and putting them back together,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

He was good at it. He still is.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his co-op gig monitoring energy usage for Auburn University Facilities Management and handling trombone duties for the marching band, he spent much of his first three years on campus down in the Design and Manufacturing Laboratory<\/a> in Wiggins Hall. Now he\u2019s a leader, one of the folks in charge of teaching folks how to machine safely. When he graduates, he\u2019s looking toward a biomedical degree, making custom orthotics for people with disabilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always liked helping people and I\u2019ve just always liked working with my hands,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, as fate would have it \u2014 and to the great surprise of most everyone who knows him \u2014 these days he\u2019s known less for his hands and more for his voice. Way more.<\/span><\/p>\n

FROM DRILL BITS TO TWO BITS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word his dad used \u2014 or used to use \u2014 to describe his son? \u201cLow-key.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Not that Ben was a wallflower \u2014 nothing like that. He likes to get involved. He knows how to have fun, cut loose and seize opportunities. Take, for fateful example, the opportunity he seized at Neville Arena in January.<\/span><\/p>\n

During basketball games, the cheerleaders grab placards that spell out \u201cAuburn\u201d \u2014 at least all the way down to the \u201cR.\u201d The \u201cN\u201d is reserved for the \u201ccelebrity letter holder\u201d \u2014 typically an athlete, a former athlete, someone of note. On that day, however, pickins were slim. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Latisha (Durroh), the cheerleading director, came over to the band and asked \u2018Would anyone like to be the celebrity letter holder?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s hand shot in the air.<\/span><\/p>\n

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2024-25 Auburn University mic-man Ben Timm poses with his family\u2014sister Allison above, parents David and Jenny below \u2014 on gameday. Allison is a 2022 Auburn aerospace engineering graduate. Jenny Timm is the Auburn Cares coordinator in the Office of Student Affairs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI said \u2018Yes ma\u2019am! I would love to do that!\u2019 And so she picked me,\u201d Ben said. \u201cI went down the stairs and when that TV timeout came, I got to go out on the floor with the cheerleaders. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I put that \u2018N\u2019 up, I was like \u2018This is the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever done. This is awesome.\u2019 From that moment on, it was like I was chasing that feeling again, of being able to support Auburn and Auburn Athletics in a new, profound way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Truth be told, he didn\u2019t have to chase it far. When it came time for razzing opponents and echoing the cheerleaders, Ben already had a reputation for volume.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the cheerleaders would do cheers, I would be really loud about it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were a couple times where Dalton turned around and gave me a thumbs up or laughed at it or something like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That would be then Auburn Cheerleading mic-man, Dalton Odom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen one day after one of the games, he came up to me and said \u2018Hey, you should try out for this,\u2019\u201d Ben said. \u201cI was like \u2018That is exactly what I\u2019m going to do.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And he did. He practiced. He put in the work. And on the night of cheerleading callouts back in May<\/a>, the name they called out after \u201cmic-man\u201d was \u201cBen Timm.\u201d His dad still finds it hard to believe. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard him practice his mic-man voice\u201d \u2014 his \u201cgrowl\u201d as David calls it \u2014 \u201cI thought, \u2018Wow, he may actually have a shot at this.\u2019 It was good. But when he first came and told us about wanting to do it, we were shocked,\u201d David said. \u201cMost people would think of Ben as very even-keeled \u2014 what many people might consider a stereotypical engineer: roll up your sleeves, work hard and get the job done. So, the idea that he wanted to be the mic-man, of all things, and have all this attention focused on him during the game, leading people in the cheers and keeping that level of energy up \u2014 yeah, it was a shock.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Ben nods. He understands the wide eyes, he understands the skepticism \u2014 at least to an extent. <\/span><\/p>\n

He understands why sister, Allison, a 2022 Auburn aerospace engineering graduate, nearly dropped the phone when she found out that her little brother, the trombone-playing mechanical engineer, would be calling the shots in the 12th largest college football stadium in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t tell Allison I was trying out,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s in Illinois. That was a fun phone call. She wasn\u2019t expecting that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But, for Ben, it somehow all seemed perfectly natural. That sense of family his dad and mom, Jenny, a coordinator for the university\u2019s Auburn Cares student support program, first experienced when arriving in Auburn? That sense of belonging? Of being a part of something bigger than yourself? That\u2019s the only feeling Ben\u2019s ever known, he said. And he wanted to know it more.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, of course, there was 2010. He always brings up 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ben Timm leads cheers in Jordan-Hare Stadium. In May, the mechanical engineering senior was Auburn University’s newest \u201cmic-man.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ALL FOR AUBURN<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to Wrights Mill Road Elementary that year, and the cheerleaders would come to my school,\u201d Ben said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then someone else started coming \u2014 Cam Newton. The eventual Heisman Trophy winner, who went on to lead the Tigers to a national championship, made Wrights Mill Road his go-to destination for community outreach events. He\u2019d show up for pep rallies. The class Christmas card with the photo of Cam on one side? Ben still has it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat year, I got to see what it was like being a part of the Auburn Family in just a really powerful way,\u201d Ben said. \u201cBut I liked the idea of being able to do that from a different perspective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When it came time to practice for his new gig, he returned to the same glorious well. David said he saw his son studying broadcasts of the 2010 season like a coach studies game film, deciding which cheers he would have done in certain situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the engineer in him, he said. The curiosity that had him taking apart laptops and any machine he could get his hands on as a kid. He knew how the Auburn spirit worked on the outside \u2014 as a fan, as a student. But after those two minutes as an honorary cheerleader on the floor of Neville Arena, he wanted to learn it from the inside. <\/span><\/p>\n

And what he learned starting with Auburn football\u2019s 2024 season opener against Alabama State, he wouldn\u2019t trade for the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Aug. 31, Ben had his Hall\u2019s cherry cough drops, he had his cheer cheat sheet and he had a new sense of purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cOur fans showed up like they always do. Doing this \u2014 being on the other side of things \u2014 has been so rewarding. I\u2019m doing it because this is my home, and being able to support it in a new way and give back to basically the family that raised me is just amazing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His dad beams. It\u2019s great to be an Auburn Tiger. <\/span><\/p>\n

And this year, more than ever, it\u2019s great to be a Timm in Auburn. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBen and I are both very grateful that we\u2019re simultaneously experiencing such unique opportunities to take a larger role in Auburn\u2019s story, which is now our story,\u201d David said. \u201cI\u2019m getting to play a critical role in the larger enterprise of our department, in the college and in the university, and he\u2019s now a part of something that is so recognizable, something that really impacts the Auburn Family in a positive way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, all for Auburn? <\/span><\/p>\n

Ben smiles. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStand up and holler.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n