1. Why did you choose Santa Clara University's School of Engineering?
I chose SCU's School of Engineering because of the combination of incredible faculty and their intense focus on creating a collaborative environment. I was looking for an engineering program that could provide me with hands-on work experience, personalized mentorship, all while fostering an interdisciplinary and collaborative culture amongst my peers. The size of the program ensures that you are never lost in a sea of students -- your professors come to know you on a first name basis, you are able to get into top tier research labs as an undergraduate, and you develop close relationships within your BME cohort. Even now, 2 years after graduation, I feel comfortable reaching out to past professors and classmates; Whether it be to ask an engineering question, request a letter of recommendation, or simply check in.
In addition to the quality of their engineering curriculum, I selected SCU because of their emphasis on educating the whole person. While many engineering programs focus solely on core engineering skills, SCU requires its engineers to participate in their top tier liberal arts core curriculum. The range of humanities, engineering communication, and bioethics courses that I took have proven a significant advantage in both industry and academia. SCU's well-rounded curriculum will set you apart once you graduate, ensuring that you have the critical thinking, communication, and public speaking skills needed to lead a highly interdisciplinary team.
Finally, I selected SCU because you are given the opportunity to finish your engineering degree with a Senior Design Project -- a capstone engineering project that allows you to do a deep dive into the research project of your choice with a self-assembled team. My project profoundly shaped my career trajectory -- helping me to land my first job, solidifying my resolve to pursue my PhD and will result in a first-author publication.
2. What has your journey been like since leaving SCU?
After graduating in 2019, I began my career as an Advanced Biomanufacturing Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory . A job that I was able to land thanks to my Senior Design Project experience, outstanding letters of recommendation from SCU faculty, and SCU's fantastic location (and reputation) within the Silicon Valley, In that position, I was able to leverage my past Senior Design experience in microfluidics/fabrication and tissue engineering to design 3D cancer models.
After one year at LLNL, I moved on to graduate school, where I am currently pursuing my PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. I intend to use my dissertation to design organ-on-a-chip models of vascular disease.
3. How has SCU helped you achieve your goals since graduating?
Since graduating, SCU has helped me to land both my first job at a National Laboratory and get into a top tier Biomedical Engineering PhD program at Boston University. SCU's engineering program truly offers a fantastic combination of personalized mentorship, collaborative faculty, and engineering work-experience that ensure that you will not only succeed post-graduation, but will thrive within your field.