Engineering Field Notes

What’s campus life like in Engineering?

Illinois has one of the top engineering programs in the world. You will pull all-nighters, put in endless amounts of time and hard work, and you will be challenged. But with all of that, you will still have time to have a life outside of engineering coursework, take part in campus activities and student organizations. Although challenging and time-consuming, Illinois Engineering doesn’t stop you from having time for other opportunities.

Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Junior
Activities – TEDxUIUC Director

What impresses you most about the College?

The vast number of opportunities really enhance what you’re learning in the classroom. I most appreciate the College’s attention to entrepreneurship through its Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC).

Who has been your favorite engineering professor?

Bruce Litchfield, the professor for my ENG 333: Creativity, Innovation, and Vision class. Everything he taught and the lessons he shared pushed my mind to think differently and I now try to apply that thinking to everything I do.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve experienced in Engineering?

The coolest thing I have experienced is The Technology Entrepreneur Center & College of Engineering’s Silicon Valley Workshop taken during winter break. It was an incredible experience to visit startups and other entrepreneurial companies. I learned so much from all of the alumni we visited and also from likeminded students I took the trip with. I came back becoming further inspired to pursue my own entrepreneurial endeavors.

Watch a video about the experience.

Have you held any internships?

I interned this past summer at Eastman Chemical Company, which bought a startup in Research Park. I conducted fermentations to produce biochemicals and ran analyses on those samples.

I also intern for the College of Engineering’s Technology Entrepreneur Center through which I help promote and foster entrepreneurship on the Illinois campus.

What is your advice to incoming freshmen?

Get involved outside of the classroom in things you love, because that will help shape your college career into so much more than what the classroom alone can do.

Where is the best place to eat on campus?

Maize Mexican Grill, Lai Lai Wok, and Bangkok Thai

What are your post-graduate plans?

My overall career goal is pursuing social entrepreneurship through a venture of my own. However, right after graduating, I will most likely work in an engineering role for a company that embodies a high-energy, innovative culture.