Education

A quick summary:

I attended UC San Diego from September 2019 - June 2023, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in control and robotics. Despite facing the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout my time at UCSD, I maintained a 3.97/4.0 GPA.

If you'd like to know more:

In high school, like many other teenagers, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my career. I knew I liked math and science, but hadn’t found something that deeply resonated with me until I took a physics class in my junior year of high school. It was there that I realized that I wanted a career that involved physics. Combining this newfound interest with my fascination for space, I initially pursued a major in Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics when I entered UCSD as a freshman. Although I ultimately did not continue with astrophysics, it remains a field that captivates me, and I continue to stay informed about advancements in the field.

By the end of my freshman year, I began to realize that physics alone did not align with my desired career path. As I explored potential career options in physics, I discovered that many opportunities were heavily focused on theoretical research and academia. While these are both intriguing to me, I knew that I needed a career where I could actively build and solve real-world problems, witnessing the tangible impact of my work. As I learned more about the industry, I finally realized that Mechanical Engineering had always been my true calling, mistaken for what I thought Physics was.

Switching majors to Mechanical Engineering was a nerve-wracking process due to its capped program. I spent several weeks of my summer anxiously waiting to see if my application would be accepted, but when I received the news, I knew I was finally in the right field. I chose to specialize in Control and Robotics, driven by my recent fascination with the software aspect of engineering—programming, automation, and intelligent computational behavior. I still maintain my deep love for space, which is what has shaped my long-term career goals of working within the space industry.

Over my four years at UCSD, I’ve been fortunate enough to take many incredibly captivating courses. Although I would love to go in depth about each one of them, that would be an incredibly long read. For now, here is a list of some of the relevant courses that I have taken, in rough order of significance to my career:

• Computer-Aided Design
• Embedded Control and Robotics
• Computational Methods
• Space Mission Analysis and Design
• Dynamics and Control of Aerospace Vehicles
• Experimental Techniques
• Mechanical Behavior of Materials
• Advanced Fluid Mechanics
• Linear Circuits
• Heat Transfer
• Solid Mechanics