When electrical engineering senior Peter Twal went to discuss his future with Jorge Aravena after getting a 33 percent on one of the professor’s tests, Aravena simply laughed.
“I should have been intimidated by that,” Twal said of the encounter. “But I guess it was his laugh that made me feel like it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Aravena, chair of the Department of  Electrical and Computer Engineering, died Friday at the age of 65 at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
Some of the many lives that Aravena affected gathered Tuesday afternoon at his memorial service in Patrick F. Taylor Hall.
About 100 students, faculty, family and friends gathered to laugh and cry at memories of the deceased academic.
Twal said he was ready to quit engineering and change his major but, at his father’s recommendation, went to speak to Aravena.
“I was thinking, ‘I’m not doing this engineering thing. I’m not cut out for it,'” Twal said.
Twal said Aravena told him getting a 33 percent was a good thing and that he would make a great engineer.
Three years later, Twal is in his last semester as an undergraduate engineering student.
“I don’t think I would have stuck with engineering if it weren’t for him, and I’m very appreciative for that,” Twal said.
The cause of Aravena’s death is known by select faculty in the department. However, at his wife’s request, the cause will not be released.
“He was a soul full of energy, so happy to be around. He was a great role model for me,” said engineering undergraduate adviser John Scalzo.
When Scalzo started working at the University 11 years ago, he admired Aravena and hoped to mimic the enthusiasm Aravena had for his students.
“It was always important for me to connect with him,” Scalzo said.
Aravena, a native of Santiago, Chile, received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Chile.
He later received his Ph.D. in computer, information and control engineering from the University of Michigan before he began teaching at LSU in the ’80s.
Aravena’s research interests included system theory, computer-based control systems and signal processing in application to artificial intelligence tools.
“He was always very chilled out, and he would have been delighted that we all came here today to celebrate him,” Don Eisenberg, associate director of development in the College of Engineering, said at the memorial.
At his funeral, Aravena was dressed in a purple University sweatsuit, Eisenberg said.
“He looked like he was smiling,” said engineering counselor Barbara Reonas.
 
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Contact Julian Tate at [email protected]