Growing up, I have followed my father’s electrical engineering career around the globe from Europe to Texas to Taiwan and to the Silicon Valley. Being submersed in environments where innovation was highly valued, I aspired to become one of the noblest professions: an inventor. It was later on I realized that the modern day word for inventor was “engineer”, and when I had to choose which engineering focus I believed had the most potential for innovation, I chose electrical engineering as I believed it to have the greatest potential to solve any technical problem.
Becoming an engineer has more or less defined my lifestyle and my social life. I often find myself trying to subscribe to the geek or nerd culture, picking up interests in gaming and science fiction topics. My group of friends more or less all sought to become engineers when college arrived. I am constantly inspired by my father’s generation of engineers and their integrity and enthusiasm for innovation. I surround myself with friends that also seek to bring about this innovative spirit. In college, I joined Eta Kappa Nu, the electrical and computer engineering honor society, to meet and work with others of the same interest. As an officer, and eventually president, I was able to work with many other enthusiastic electrical engineers to create events and new programs as a team. I believe that in my college career, I need to not only learn the technical knowledge, but also hope my professional and team building and management skills. I’ve learned that engineering is largely team based, and being able to work effectively with others is the only true way of achieving my goals as an electrical engineer.
As an electrical engineer, my long term goal is to go into industry, design integrated circuits, and one day create my own startup company. I believe that true innovation is often found through entrepreneurial pursuits. The electronics industry has grown rapidly and is extremely diverse in its applications of integrated circuitry and I want to be able to create my own products to solve today’s needs.
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