Student Spotlights

The reason we’re at a university is to interact with students. Inspiring students is a huge part of our mission.

I chose MSE as my major because I see myself being concerned with how things are made in the future. A truly sustainable future means being concerned with how things are made and what happens over and after their entire lifetime because the materials and design decide the ability to maintain and replace our technology. It is too early to say exactly what I will end up doing, but I can say the future will be with how we use our materials.

Growing up, there was never any doubt that I was going to be an engineer. I told myself that computer science would be a natural fit. I took Introduction to Materials Science to fulfill a requirement and it soon became my favorite. I eventually admitted that I much prefer looking at stress-strain curves than a Java terminal screen. I took another MSE course this semester. Once again, it is my favorite class. I have made the switch.

As I begin preparing for classes, I sit down at my ordinary desk. Not only does the shape of the desk need to be carefully considered, but also the different woods and metals holding it together. Does metal corrosion need to be considered? What made the materials affordable? A close analysis of any single material of the desk spirals into that material’s history, structure or properties, yielding a lifetime’s worth of innovation.