My career goal is to be a part of the automotive industry as an automotive engineer. Since I was a child I had an obsession with things that moved, that enthusiasm quickly developed into a love for how automobiles worked. My parents recognized this and gave me encouragement to pursue engineering. Despite our low income situation, they pushed me to seek higher education in order to fulfill my automotive dream. I was not only interested in how they looked; but how they moved, why they sounded the way they did; all the unique features that seemed equipped on performance cars. Ever since childhood interest in sports cars and would spend time drawing cars that I saw from books, online or even from diecast models. During middle school I was always eager to check for new sports car books that my school library would have. Whenever possible, my mom would take my siblings and I to our library, where I had the opportunity to check out and read different automobile books. When our family was able to buy a gaming console, one of my most played games was Forza Horizon 3 and it was my primary introduction into the racing game genre. In high school classes my friends and I would talk about our favorite car icons, from retro cars to new supercars. We’d debate each other about how tasteful our dream garages would be. With support from my parents I was able to study mechanical engineering at the University of Texas in Austin. I was able to explore new study fields including thermodynamics and Heat Transfer. I was able to utilize CAD modeling software such as Solidworks, and to gain skills in CAM in order to realize my ideas with laser cutting and CNC tools. However, due to financial challenges my graduation date had to be delayed as I was unable to resolve financial bars. As I am currently attempting to go back to school, I have made the most of this opportunity to not only try and resolve my financial bar, but to initiate new projects to advance my engineering skills. I created a personal project to research, design, and conduct FEA on different brake rotor designs. I began by going to brake systems websites and race brake catalogs such as Brembo, to research brake rotor and caliper dimensions. In Fusion, I modeled both single and two piece rotor designs and created engineering drawings of them. Currently, I am learning to use Ansys Mechanical software to conduct thermal and structural analysis on said brake rotors that I modeled. I have had two main goals I hope to accomplish in the near future. One is to own a Silvia S15, and have tracked their import feasibility as well as ever increasing cost since high school. My second, primary goal, is to enter a career where I will continue to utilize CAD modeling and FEA. Becoming an automotive engineer would not only allow me to use these tools for automobile innovation; it will enable me to develop leadership skills to make an impact in the industry as well. Receiving this scholarship would help me greatly in overcoming my financial struggle and allow me to complete my college education as a first generation student. I know that despite my graduation timeline changing from my initial hopes, I have not stopped working towards my goal of becoming an automotive engineer and to make meaningful influence in the automotive space.

My main goal for the future is to attain a career in the automotive manufacturing industry as a design engineer. To do this I aim to finally return to UT Austin for the following semester. I have had this goal since my parents first mentioned the field to me in middle school. Growing up in Houston, most technology related topics would be related to space exploration and the NASA programs. It would be of little surprise then that I had and still have a deep interest in space science like astronomy, not to mention launch vehicles, shuttles, and rovers like Curiosity. Although I never dreamed of working at NASA or becoming an astronaut, I was so interested as to go to my middle school’s library and check out books on space exploration and discover types of spacecraft used for exploration, their rocket and reentry systems. This would soon grow into research of the design of both aircraft and automotive propulsion systems. My first, and most memorable book that I purchased from a book fair was one that featured different military vehicles; tanks, submarines and even jets. Whenever my family went to our library I would always walk out with at least one illustrated book about either automobiles or types of air/spacecraft. I first saw terms like turbine, combustion and intake by reading these books. It is my belief as to why I was eager to take Thermodynamics in college despite its difficulty. I plan to use this scholarship to aid in my goal of reducing my financial hold, reducing the payment that I owe to the school, so that I will be able to complete registration for the coming semester. Just like in previous semesters I intend to continue networking with my school alumni and campus recruiters in the industries that I am interested in working in. This scholarship would help lessen the financial load that my parents and I are burdened with. It has been difficult obtaining grants and other funding due to my immigration status. The financial bar on my registration once, once it is lifted would help me in achieving my goal of completing my few remaining degree requirements and give me the opportunity to obtain more stable employment in the career I am passionate about. With my degree I would be able to make greater financial contributions to and reduce responsibilities for my parents. They encouraged me to learn more about my interests from a young age as well as be an inspiration to my younger siblings.

My favorite artist is the Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker Rembrandt van Rijn. Rembrandt was known for using light and shades to highlight certain subjects and characters in his paintings and etches. I first heard of Rembrandt in a visual arts class and one of the paintings in the lectures was Night Watch, it demonstrates Rembrandt’s illumination of certain people in the picture to draw the viewer's attention, and the use of the picture plain to signify the main characters at the front of the painting.