About

Mechanical engineer, one semester from an M.S.

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, with a minor in Aerospace Engineering. No single moment sparked the interest — I've always been curious about how things work and drawn to figuring out solutions to problems I actually run into.

That interest got sharper and more specific once I started taking real engineering classes, especially the open-ended project courses where you pick your own problem and build a solution to it. I learned early that I do my best work on problems I'm actually interested in, not just ones that look good on paper. Along the way, elective coursework pointed me toward aerospace specifically — the problems in that space motivated me more than general mechanical design did, which is why it's now a minor alongside the degree.

I started college through a 3-2 program at Susquehanna University, mainly so I could play lacrosse and have room to figure out whether mechanical engineering was actually the right degree before committing fully. Lacrosse faded as a factor before I got to Columbia, but the flexibility of that path is exactly what let me get here.

Outside the lab, I'm a SCUBA instructor and divemaster, and I kiteboard seriously enough that it became the subject of one of my graduate projects. Those aren't separate from the engineering, for me — they're often where the problems worth solving come from. When I had an open-ended turbulence project to choose for a graduate course, I could have picked a more conventionally "employable" problem, like modeling wind flow through a simplified city (relevant to delivery-drone routing, which companies are actively working on). Instead I chose to model the wind behavior at a specific kiteboarding spot I already knew firsthand, because that personal stake is what motivated me to put in the extra work for a clean, complete result — not because it was the easier or more impressive option.

With one semester left, I'm looking for a role in aerospace engineering — ideally working on some component of a rocket or aircraft engine, though I'm open to any fluid system. I'd rather be on the design or test side than manufacturing: design work means constantly solving problems at the system level, which is the part I find most engaging.

draft — pending review