My work experience has been rather unconventional so far, but it has been priceless in the experiences and skills I have gained.
For a copy of my resume, click here: collegiate_resume.docx
For more detailed info about my jobs, keep scrolling!
All of my full time jobs so far have been through the University of Cincinnati, and most of my part time jobs have as well. However, the amount of opportunities I have gotten here have given me a unique skill set unparalleled by most engineering students. My co-ops have given me the opportunity to work in two different countries, conduct research, and present it at the ASME IMECE 2018 conference, and work as both a teaching assistant, and in the aerospace industry. I have also had the opportunity to use my top 5 StrengthQuest strengths: namely, Input, Ideation, Strategic, Analytical, and Responsibility.
Full Time Experience
Student Orientation Leader:
My first full time job was through the University of Cincinnati, as a Student Orientation Leader. As a part of this job, I led small groups of incoming freshmen through 20 orientation sessions, and answered any questions that students or parents may have. Through this job, I had a month of training all about UC and about what the program expects from all SOLs, as the faces of UC, learning more about, and growing closer to our university. The valuable skills that I gained from this job included leadership and public speaking abilities, especially from small groups, and the ability to turn on a dime, and think critically, as many things can and often do go wrong in orientation sessions. The strengths that I used in this job included strategic and ideation, in order to solve any problems that arose. My main takeaways included that accelerated learning in a job environment (aka a month of training) can produce great results, and the simple act of having confidence in situations that are unnerving make you appear as a leader to those who are new to a situation (aka freshmen!).
First Co-op In Chong Qing, China:
For my first co-op, I was a Teaching Assistant at Chong Qing University in the 2017 spring semester. This job was through UC's Joint Co-op Institute, which has students in both mechanical and electrical engineering taking the same class and co-op schedule as students at UC, and then coming to UC for their 5th/senior year. They send over TAs and professors to CQU in order to expose Chinese students to Americans, and people of other nationalities, before they come to UC. My main job responsibilities were helping with labs, holding office hours for questions, teaching sample problems, grading papers and proctoring exams. I acted as a TA to four classes: Heat Transfer, Manufacturing Processes, Statics & Particle Dynamics and Engineering Models 2. I often utilized input and ideation together to come up with new ideas about how to best engage the students, which in turn often brought me closer to some of the more outgoing ones. We came up with ideas for an English conversation table, as well as travel to new and exciting places I would have never dreamed of! Responsibility was also needed, as I had to balance a lot of work each week with four classes to help with. I gained greater skills in MATLAB from grading Models homework, improved my teaching skills by helping out in class, and improved my improvisation skills to apply in a cross-cultural setting.
The main takeaways from this job included the fact that the language barrier can be overcome, given a few bilingual people as resources, and a sense of perservance. Although not being able to speak Chinese was extremely frustrating and added to my homesickness, I was able to disregard it, and get in a sense of routine to live in the country. This boosted my confidence, and made me realize that even travel or living in places where I didn't know the language is possible for me, given the right attitude and preparation. Also, a sense of adventure and wonder will rarely steer you wrong, as well as openness to new people and experiences! I had a wonderful time, simply because I was able to open myself up to anything that came my way. I created a blog as an artifact of my experience here: mycoopinchina.blogspot.com .
For a copy of my resume, click here: collegiate_resume.docx
For more detailed info about my jobs, keep scrolling!
All of my full time jobs so far have been through the University of Cincinnati, and most of my part time jobs have as well. However, the amount of opportunities I have gotten here have given me a unique skill set unparalleled by most engineering students. My co-ops have given me the opportunity to work in two different countries, conduct research, and present it at the ASME IMECE 2018 conference, and work as both a teaching assistant, and in the aerospace industry. I have also had the opportunity to use my top 5 StrengthQuest strengths: namely, Input, Ideation, Strategic, Analytical, and Responsibility.
Full Time Experience
Student Orientation Leader:
My first full time job was through the University of Cincinnati, as a Student Orientation Leader. As a part of this job, I led small groups of incoming freshmen through 20 orientation sessions, and answered any questions that students or parents may have. Through this job, I had a month of training all about UC and about what the program expects from all SOLs, as the faces of UC, learning more about, and growing closer to our university. The valuable skills that I gained from this job included leadership and public speaking abilities, especially from small groups, and the ability to turn on a dime, and think critically, as many things can and often do go wrong in orientation sessions. The strengths that I used in this job included strategic and ideation, in order to solve any problems that arose. My main takeaways included that accelerated learning in a job environment (aka a month of training) can produce great results, and the simple act of having confidence in situations that are unnerving make you appear as a leader to those who are new to a situation (aka freshmen!).
First Co-op In Chong Qing, China:
For my first co-op, I was a Teaching Assistant at Chong Qing University in the 2017 spring semester. This job was through UC's Joint Co-op Institute, which has students in both mechanical and electrical engineering taking the same class and co-op schedule as students at UC, and then coming to UC for their 5th/senior year. They send over TAs and professors to CQU in order to expose Chinese students to Americans, and people of other nationalities, before they come to UC. My main job responsibilities were helping with labs, holding office hours for questions, teaching sample problems, grading papers and proctoring exams. I acted as a TA to four classes: Heat Transfer, Manufacturing Processes, Statics & Particle Dynamics and Engineering Models 2. I often utilized input and ideation together to come up with new ideas about how to best engage the students, which in turn often brought me closer to some of the more outgoing ones. We came up with ideas for an English conversation table, as well as travel to new and exciting places I would have never dreamed of! Responsibility was also needed, as I had to balance a lot of work each week with four classes to help with. I gained greater skills in MATLAB from grading Models homework, improved my teaching skills by helping out in class, and improved my improvisation skills to apply in a cross-cultural setting.
The main takeaways from this job included the fact that the language barrier can be overcome, given a few bilingual people as resources, and a sense of perservance. Although not being able to speak Chinese was extremely frustrating and added to my homesickness, I was able to disregard it, and get in a sense of routine to live in the country. This boosted my confidence, and made me realize that even travel or living in places where I didn't know the language is possible for me, given the right attitude and preparation. Also, a sense of adventure and wonder will rarely steer you wrong, as well as openness to new people and experiences! I had a wonderful time, simply because I was able to open myself up to anything that came my way. I created a blog as an artifact of my experience here: mycoopinchina.blogspot.com .
Above: My TA Coworkers in Chong Qing, an iconic place on CQU Campus A, and a professor and co-worker on Mt Emei with me!
Fuzzy Logic/UAV Research Co-ops:
For my second and third co-ops, I did research into UAV path planning using Fuzzy Logic at the University of Cincinnati. This was in the fall 2017 and summer 2018 semesters. My main job was programming UAVs to integrate them into the National Air Space using fuzzy logic concepts in MATLAB. In order to do this, I formulated rule bases in fuzzy inference systems and created simulations to model UAV motion in sense and avoid scenarios. I am currently still trying to finish up much of the work part time, but I have made significant progress. I will also be presenting at the student poster portion of the ASME IMECE conference in November, something I would have never guessed that I would be doing at the beginning of this project.
My work has utilized all 5 of my top strengths: input from learning about the backgrounds of both UAV path planning and fuzzy logic, ideation and strategic to solve the given problems, analytical to break down the issues behind the problem, and responsibility to push myself to get it done. Skills I've gained include even greater MATLAB fluency, how to create professional presentations to communicate your work (from posters, to powerpoints and reports), how best to work with others in a lab setting, and lots of patience, as simulations often fail... over and over and over! The main things I would take from this project include learning how research actually works, in all its messiness, and knowing that the hard work will eventually pay off in the end. Just as many failed simulations come to a breakthrough, I assume there will eventually be successful flight tests for the UAVs.
International Co-op Experience at IHI Tokyo
I am also in the midst of my final co-op. I am working with IHI, an aerospace company, at their headquarters in Tokyo, Japan! This is through the International Co-op Program, and I am currently working on acoustic liner research, as well as improving my Japanese through interactions with my co-workers!
Most notable part time experiences:
Ever since freshman year, I have held a work-study at the University of Cincinnati Communication Services (Copy and Printing Department). This has been during every class semester. I operate binding and duplicating machinery in printing and finishing of products, and perform related work such as assembling, folding, cutting, hole punching, or whatever service clients request. It is often a repetitive job, but I have definitely learned patience from it, and a takeaway I've gained includes the old adage, "Good things come to those who wait!". I can use the "strategic" strength to try to think of ways to make the jobs go faster.
I was also a CEAS Peer Leader in the fall semester of 2016. The foremost responsibility of this job was to lead a Learning Community of 1st year engineering students twice a week. I acted as a mentor and peer simultaneously, introducing them to resources on campus and college life with a community of other students their same year. Through my presence in the classroom, I provided students with a resource and friend who has been through many of the same experiences as them. As part of this job, I also led study sessions in Engineering Models, pre calculus, and chemistry and made lesson plans for each activity. This helped me in the side job I have of doing Chegg tutoring right now.
The main strengths that I used here were ideation and strategic, although my input strength often helped me come up with the information needed for new ideas. When talking to my students, and seeing what works best for them, I was able to create ideas for the best lesson plans, and strategies for their growth. The invaluable interpersonal skills that I gained from this experience have allowed me to connect better one on one with people, and read them better, creating the potential for better relationships with people. From this experience, I learned that things that you perceive to be small can often make a large difference in the lives of those you are mentoring. If you are able to help students with even small things, it will help them in the long run, and you also get a great amount of pride from doing it.
Professional Organizations:
I have also been involved in a number of professional organizations during my time at UC.
I am currently a member of the national organizations of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Engineers without Borders (EWB).
I was previously a member of ASME and ASSE national chapters as well.
For UC's chapter of EWB, I was design chair in my third year, helping with designs for promotional materials and our website.
For UC's chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), I was vice president my freshman year, and marketing chair my sophomore year.
From the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, I received the E Wayne Kay Scholarship for both the 2015-2016 school year and the 2016-2017 school year. From SWE, I received the 2016 GE Women's Network Scholarship for the 2016-2017 school year.
I am also on LinkedIn under my given name.
Thank you for reading!