Carolina Scholar
Chapin High School
Chapin, S.C.
Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate research has really defined my experience at UofSC. I've gotten the opportunity to work with field-leading professors, dedicated graduate students and brilliant engineers at NASA and Boeing. My work took me far beyond my mechanical curriculum and allowed me to dive into software development, chemistry and mathematical optimization.
Career plans: After graduation I will return to Boeing for a summer internship before coming back to UofSC to wrap up my accelerated master's. After completing my master's (est. August 2023) I plan to go back to Boeing and work full time as an aerospace engineer.
UofSC Story: During my first semester freshman year, I saw a flyer for a live lecture from NASA
given by a mechanical engineering professor as part of his manufacturing class. I
thought it looked interesting so I attended, and a year later I was working for the
professor in his lab. Undergraduate research has really defined my experience at UofSC.
Over the years, I've won the Magellan Grant, the SURF grant and the SC Space Grant
Undergraduate Student Research Award, which have funded my work since sophomore year.
I've gotten the opportunity to work with field-leading professors, dedicated graduate
students, and brilliant engineers at NASA and Boeing. My work took me far beyond my
mechanical curriculum and allowed me to dive into software development, chemistry
and mathematical optimization. It's been a long journey, full of constant obstacles
and failures but incredibly rewarding.
Most impactful experience: During my sophomore year, I joined Dr. Ramy Harik's composites research team as an
undergraduate research assistant. After a semester of training, I began working on
my own independent project building a piece of software that aided in automated fiber
placement of composites, a specific aerospace manufacturing technique. Since then
I've won several grants, a national fellowship and worked with NASA and Boeing. It's
been an incredibly rewarding process and taught me the value of failing forward.
Best part of the Top Scholars program: The best part of being a Top Scholar is the people. Every scholar has unique passions
that build an incredibly diverse and inspiring atmosphere. I hangout with scholars,
I take classes with scholars, and I've even lived with a Scholar all four years. On
top of my peers, there's also the Top Scholar staff that have given me a support network,
career advice, and four years of awesome programming. The scholarship money is cool,
but the people make it special.