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Hispanic Heritage Month: Prevailing with Grit and Community

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 19:03:26 +0000

Hispanic Heritage Month: Prevailing with Grit and Community Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/25/2023 - 13:03

Charles Ferrer

‘Welcome to the familia’. It’s a greeting that welcomed Erika Antunez (IntDesEngr’24) when she first joined CU Boulder’s chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers as a first-year student. Familia takes on a whole new meaning for Antunez and her own family. “My parents worked so hard to give my sister and I a better life,” said Antunez.

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Undergraduate student presents research at national conference

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 19:30:38 +0000

Undergraduate student presents research at national conference Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/31/2023 - 13:30

Grace Wilson

Robert Wang (IDE'25) participated in the Discovery Learning Apprenticeship (DLA) program at CU Boulder in the summer of 2023. He did research on the benefits of interdisciplinary engineering education programs similar to the Integrated Design Engineering program at CU Boulder, where he has an emphasis in mechanical engineering and a concentration in Chinese.

His research as an undergraduate was accepted by the American Society for Engineering Education, and he was able to travel to Baltimore and present at the conference through the support of the Professional & Academic Conference Endowment (PACE) grant and the College of Engineering and Applied Science's Dean’s Matching Travel Grant.

He also ran into an Integrated Design Engineering Alumni, Micaela Bara (IDE'22) who was also presenting at the 2023 ASEE conference on redesigning a multi-disciplinary measurement lab and statistics course.

Q+A with Robert Wang

What inspired you to do the research you did on interdisciplinary engineering programs?

In the hopes that I find something that I want to pursue in the future, I want to have various different experiences while I’m here at CU Boulder. I found this DLA opportunity on IDE programs to be a valuable experience that would indicate whether or not research is something that I want to do in my career. Also, I myself am an Integrated Design Engineering student, so I was personally interested in this research and its ability to help the program.

How would you describe the research that you did?

Much of the research that I did involved set up, data collection, and data analysis. To prepare for the research, I first had to go through training for human research and submit an IRB approval with Professor Zarske.

The purpose of this was to verify that the research that we were doing was ethical. It took a decent amount of time to create the survey and focus groups. Most of my time was spent on data collection/organization and data analysis. Since our study focused on surveying and interviewing the students, our studies were more qualitative.

I think that a person’s research experience is largely dependent on what kind of research they are doing. Various different skills can be improved through research, like creativity, data analysis and problem-solving.

How would you describe the experience of doing research through DLA?

DLA was an invaluable experience that taught me various different skills and helped me create important connections. I was able to learn about the process of research, and through this I improved my data analysis, technical writing, public speaking, and more. I had the opportunity to work with Professor Zarske and make a meaningful relationship with her, which I am thankful for. I believe that this DLA experience will play an integral role in my future.

What was it like working with a faculty mentor?

I absolutely loved working with Professor Zarske! She was a fantastic mentor, and I learned a lot of valuable skills from her. I appreciate her understanding and patience, and the support that she provided me throughout the DLA experience helped me both within and outside of research. I’m grateful that I was able to work with and learn from Professor Zarske, and I’m glad that I was able to build a great relationship with her. I think that being able to work with a mentor and building that connection is an invaluable experience that everyone should participate in. There’s a lot that I learned that I wouldn’t have been able to in class.

What was it like getting your work accepted by ASEE and presenting your research at a conference?

I was both overjoyed and relieved when our conference paper was accepted by ASEE. Professor Zarske and I put in a lot of time and effort this past year to set up, conduct, and analyze our research. After submitting our final draft, I was worried about whether or not our peer reviewers would accept our paper. Receiving our notification of acceptance was a huge sigh of relief, and having our research validated by other academic peers left me with a sense of accomplishment. I’m grateful that our work was appreciated by the other members of ASEE.

What would you say to other students who have an interest in possibly pursuing research?

Just go for it! You'll never know if research is something you are passionate about if you don’t try it out. The DLA program is a great way to step into research and see if it’s something that interests you.

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Award winner embraces kindness as part of perseverance

Anonymous — Tue, 02 May 2023 22:07:08 +0000

Award winner embraces kindness as part of perseverance Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/02/2023 - 16:07

Grace Wilson

"I used to think that I was just lucky, but I've realized that isn't true. I've worked so hard for what I have, and I'm proud of it," Yamelit Medina-Lopez (IntDesEngr'23) said.

Medina-Lopez, Yamy to most, is a recipient of the 2023 Perseverance Award from the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

She was hired as a manufacturing engineer for Ball Aerospace before the fall semester of her senior year.

She sought to to understand how young girls choose STEM through independent research with Integrated Design Engineering Teaching Professor Mindy Zarske.

She also joined Craniate, a project from Teaching Professor Shaz Zamore in the ATLAS Institute that provides a hands-on visual STEAM education tool for underserved K-12 students across the United States.

Additionally, through her years at CU Boulder, Medina-Lopez has been heavily involved in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), becoming the CU Boulder Chapter President from 2021 to 2022.

But Medina-Lopez didn't originally apply to engineering at CU Boulder.

"I actually didn't believe that I could get in," she said.

Her parents, however, believed in her. When she got an interview for the GoldShirt in Engineering program, they encouraged Medina-Lopez to take it.

GoldShirt Bridge

GoldShirt acknowledges the truth that high school experiences are not uniform, and some students with incredible engineering potential don't have the same access to higher math classes, physics and chemistry and other college-prep opportunities in their high school.

The program works to provide equal access to highly capable engineering students through mentorship, access to resources and academic opportunities. Medina-Lopez, a first-generation college student, was also able to connect with other students with similar experiences.

"GoldShirt had a big impact on me. It meant a lot to have great friends who were going through the same thing as me and who came from similar backgrounds… They completely understood me," Medina-Lopez said.

Before their first semester in college, GoldShirt students attend the GoldShirt Summer Bridge, which familiarizes students with campus and gets them started on engineering projects. Many of those projects are taught by Integrated Design Engineering instructors, and after the classes, Medina-Lopez chose to pursue her degree through the IDE program, then called Engineering Plus.

Project-based learning

"I like the way they approach teaching, and I value how much they care about their students. It meant a lot to have people believe in me, especially during hard times," Medina-Lopez said.

The Integrated Design Engineering program allows students to choose both an engineering emphasis and a concentration that can be outside of engineering. It also teaches engineering concepts through hands-on projects.

"People think that engineering is just technical, but those classes really taught me what it means to work on a team and so many time management skills," Medina-Lopez said. "And, when I was doing my job search, my resume was stacked thanks to the projects I did in IDE."

A community to count on

Like most first-year engineering students, Medina-Lopez struggled to adjust to the level of homework, and had a hard time attending meetings for SHPE in her first year.

"A core memory that I have is that, as a freshman, the president of SHPE would reach out to me a lot and just make sure I was OK because I wasn't going to the meetings. Him reaching out to me made me feel like I had a community," Medina Lopez said.

Medina-Lopez's second year was her hardest, and she learned that before she could be at her best for other people, she had to be good to herself.

"For me, I learned that perseverance is about continuing to push, but also taking care of yourself, knowing not to burn yourself out so much. It's important to take a little break and take a deep breath. You're still human, not a robot, you know?" Medina-Lopez said.

Yamelit Medina-Lopez wasn't sure if she should even pursue engineering. Now, through the support of her communities, hard work and by taking care of herself, she's graduating as a Ball Aerospace manufacturing engineer and community leader.

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