Some of my favorite memories take place in the craft store, begging my mother for more clay, more yarn, more of anything to turn into something beautiful with my hands and the help of a YouTube tutorial. This established a guiding truth in my life - I love making. In later years, my pursuit of a mechanical engineering degree allowed me to leverage a new-found mechanical savvy to create imaginative solutions.

See, for example, a team project completed in my final semester: The Fashion Library. This was an opportunity to channel my affinities for sustainability and fashion, while also learning how to navigate the end-to-end product design process. The brainstorming and prototyping phases encouraged me to ignite my imagination, gain inspiration from others, and flex my engineering muscle in a fun, iterative way.

During my work at MSA Safety. Inc, I learned how prototyping works outside of the classroom by using rudimentary office supplies to rapidly prototype tools to screen the health of respirators for fire-fighters in the field. Knowing that my team was helping to save lives held an insurmountable weight that gave me purpose through design.

I hope to bring my design prowess and project experience to industry, working on hands-on collaborative projects that generate positive impact on people and the planet.