As an aspiring chemical engineer with a passion for investigating environmental issues and security, my journey into the engineering industry has been shaped by an increasing interest in problem solving and my strong background in math. Growing up in a diverse environment, I was able to develop a mindset acknowledging multifaceted viewpoints, encouraging my interest in collaborative problem-solving. This manifested into an avid participation in various group competitions in Mu Alpha Theta (MAO) and Future Problem Solvers (FPS) throughout my educational journey.

 

Such collaborative involvement has also encouraged me to break boundaries and implement changes locally and nationally through group organizations such as The Climate Initiative and The Borgen Project. Motivated by a commitment to implement the future that the we, the youth, want to see, I helped represent sustainable solutions regarding the environment nationally. My passion for writing and creating real change came to life with these organizations.

 

My commitment to enacting change and my interest in academia settled in college, coming to fruition when I became involved in the undergraduate research community. Research provided me with an opportunity to combine my passion for writing with that of problem solving in academia. A collaborative lab environment has only bolstered my positive experiences, as working alongside numerous people with different perspectives has only broadened the scope of my thinking.

 

I am now lucky to work in Dr. Peng Jiang’s research group, developing groundbreaking nanotechnology and working on advanced materials for sustainability and security. Focusing on shape-memory polymers, my lab group creates new efficient polymers with instantaneous shape recovery, aiming to sense unconventional stimuli for aerospace morphing structures and vapor sensing.