Campus Remembers Scott Rausch with Avionics Lab Naming

“It’s very moving to see everyone come together to support the new Scott Rausch Avionics Lab and the endowment that will sustain current and future Hardrockers,” says Mines President Jim Rankin (EE 78) PhD, PE. “There is nothing that Scott would have wanted more than to know the avionics students are being supported and that his impact on this campus will be remembered forever.” modeling for fancy cowboy clothing companies, or even good old-fashioned cattle ranching are not pursuits that benefit from a robust engineering education—but Stephen Yellowtail (IE 17) would beg to differ.

The avionics lab includes a fully equipped flight simulator that mimics a wide range of aircraft and that allows students to test and develop new avionics software and hardware. The program is housed in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, which added an avionics minor in the fall of 2021.

Rausch spent decades in the aerospace industry; in retirement he devoted much of his time to South Dakota Mines alongside his wife, Linda (ChE 75) .

Thank you to the alumni and friends who supported the Scott Rausch Avionics Lab Fund.

“People don’t think about it, but engineering is 100 percent applicable to the ranching world,” Yellowtail says, as he drives a pickup full of hay across including an emerging career as a Hollywood stunt man and work as a model for western clothing companies. He’s doing all this while continuing to run his family ranch.

“I’m very fortunate that my cattle operation has grown thanks in a big part to the education I received at Mines. I plan to keep expanding,” he says.

Yellowtail attributes his success to not only the math, engineering, and organization skills he learned at Mines, but also the people skills.

“There are some values you learn from sports that are super huge and that maybe are sometimes overlooked,” he says. “From my experience, teammates and coaches were a brotherhood at Mines. Coach Henry and Coach Glenn wanted to see us all succeed.” the Montana high prairie to his cattle pasture. “The knowledge I gained at Mines has been a huge help. In industrial engineering, you take a lot of courses related to finances, quality control, and optimization. Whether it’s producing the best beef possible or stunt doubling, it’s a business,” he says. “Mines taught me how to excel in these endeavors.”

Today, he also wants to share that success with the next generation of young people who may dream of careers in STEM, but who might not think they are attainable.

Yellowtail is a fourth generation Montana cattle rancher, member of the Crow Tribal Nation, a father of two boys, a South Dakota Mines basketball player, and Tiospaye Scholar who rose to national stardom as a 2021 finalist in INSP’s cowboy competition television series Ultimate Cowboy Showdown. His second-place finish on the show spun off into more industry opportunities

“I took a class on professionalism that was really valuable,” he says. “I get stuntman gigs and modeling gigs and I have to represent myself as a business. Knowing what my skills are and being able to negotiate my worth, is something I picked up at Mines. Yellowtail also gives praise to the supportive community of professors and Native students on campus. “The Tiospaye Program was extremely helpful in my current success. People like Dr. Carter Kerk and their effort to build that community on campus was so important. I don’t have enough good things to say about Dr. Kerk."

He is also proud to represent South Dakota Mines as a Native alumnus. “The number of Native people both in engineering and the movie industry is really small,” he says. “At Mines we were ambassadors for Native people and that continues today."

“It was such a great pleasure to have Stephen in the Tiospaye Scholar Program, largely because of his enthusiasm and positive attitude,” says Carter Kerk, PhD, professor of industrial engineering and the Tiospaye Program director.

As a scholar athlete and basketball player, Yellowtail says he values the lessons learned on and off the court.

“My advice to young people interested in STEM who might be from a tribal nation is just go for it,” he says. “I understand, coming from a reservation as a young person, it just looks totally unattainable. I remember thinking, there is no way I can get off the rez, there is no way I can go to a college. For some of these kids, to even dream of these things is just unheard of. I want them to know, there are people out there who want them to succeed. ” sdsmt.edu/tiospaye

Yellowtail is continuing to find success. He is stunt doubling for actor Martin Sensmeier in the television series 1883. He spent last summer working on the Kevin Costner film Horizon that is bringing him back for the next installments of the three-part saga. Despite the success in the movie industry, he remains humble and plans to keep ranching, above all. “The cattle business is my bread and butter and I’m very fortunate,” he says.

Yellowtail is one of 58 Native American students to graduate from Mines since the Tiospaye Program began in 2010. The purpose of the program is to recruit, retain, and graduate increased numbers of Native students in engineering and science by providing financial, academic, professional, cultural, and social support.