What is your next adventure?

Following in the footsteps of my mom and a number of extended family members, my long-term goal is to become an entrepreneur/business owner, likely in the field of engineering. In pursuit of this goal, my next step is to further develop my communication and writing skills as a paralegal at a small family law firm just 30 minutes north of Atlanta.

What about your next adventure are you most looking forward to?

I'm most excited to be working with my brother, who also works at the firm. On a personal level, I thought it would be good to take a deep breath, appreciate what I've achieved, and spend more time with my family until I’m ready to chase my next dream.

Did you have any previous co-op, internship, or research experience in this area?

While becoming a paralegal seems like it would be quite different from engineering without descriptive language, my job description during my first internship with GE Aerospace on the GE9X Hot Section design team could be mistaken for it. To make my point, as a design engineer, my main task was to substantiate design or test plan changes and present it at tech review.

Last summer, I interned with the Aerodynamics team on my second rotation at GE Aerospace, where I developed CFD models for centrifugal compressors. At one point, this was literally my dream job. I excelled in the role; however, it was very, very technical. Even though they offered me an opportunity to return, I realized I wanted to grow in ways that these roles would not provide.

During my time at Tech, I had the opportunity to work in a couple of research labs. Currently, I’m in the High-Powered Electric Propulsion Lab with Professor Mitchell Walker aiding in the diagnostic development of Hall-effect thrusters. Before I got in the door at GE, I worked in the Computational Combustion Lab with Professor Suresh Menon, using CFD to simulate the combustion performance of a Rotational Detonation Engine (RDE).

By far, my favorite extracurricular activity was a project called the Aerospace Propulsion Outreach Program (APOP) funded by the Air Force research Lab. A group of six undergrads and I spent a year improving the thrust-to-weight ratio of a micro gas turbine engine by 30.3%.

How did your educational experience at Georgia Tech help you to achieve your goals?

My goal has been and always will be to sharpen my mind. While I was in school, I was thankful for the educational and research opportunities in designing and testing propulsion systems, but more important than the specific ideas I was privy to, I learned a framework for thinking critically. Put simply, I learned the importance of asking the right questions and how to fill in the gaps to get to the answer.

What advice would you give to an underclassman who would like to follow the same path?

Before anything, make sure you are meeting your basic needs, taking special care to learn how to deal with stress. Equally important is to stay anchored to your family and friends. Finally, both in the context of your career and life, face your fears head-on and go where you can grow.