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Work Experience
During my time in the engineering program, I have met a number
of industry professionals through workplace field trips and guest
speakers which has broadened my perspective on Engineering. The
field trips helped my identify possible workplaces/colleges that I
can attend in the future. The workplaces showed me the many careers
that are available within Engineering, including QA analyst,
environmental engineer, marine engineer, e.t.c. Guest speakers
helped me realize what people do on a daily basis when
working in the field.
Mentorship Program
My mentor was Sidhar Kuppuswamy. Through him, I learned important lessons related
to workplace and career life. Firstly, the college you attend is not at all important,
rather the internships and connections you make through the college is the most
important. Your major may not always be your future, so it is important to have an
open and flexible mind. The people in your workplace are very important, they can
introduce you to new career opportunities, new people, and help you enjoy work.
Field Trips
Santa Clara and San Jose State University
2019 December
In 10th grade, I went on a campus tour to both San Jose State and Santa Clara University.
Since I am a high schooler, I was interested in learning about university life and how to
get accepted. The trip provided me with more than just the answers; the tour showed me how
to apply for various majors like Computer Science major which I can apply for. Santa Clara
University also showed me how I can learn biotech, one of the fastest-growing industries,
while still taking regular computer science classes. Overall, the trip helped me gain more
experience on how university students use their classes and school opportunities to help them
get a job in the engineering field.
Roche Molecular Systems
2020 January
In 10th grade, my class and I visited the biotechnology company
Roche Molecular Systems. It was an amazing introduction as to what
biotechnology exactly is. I got to see niche machines that do
complicated tests and complex tasks to help scientists find information.
It helped me realize how important biotecnology as it grows in the future,
as it can combat diseases, viruses, and other biological problems.
Through Roche, I not only met scientists, but I had a chance to
talk to sales people, engineers, directors, and more. Overall, it
was a great expeience as it broadened my viewpoint on what engineering could be.
BART and Workday
2019 November
In 10th grade, I had an oppurtunity to go to a civil and software engineer company,
BART and Workday respectively. BART allowed me to find how the BART works, in
terms of the train movement and the power. There are different types of "cars" (compartments,
A2, B2, C1, etc and depending on the need, different compartments can be put together.
Each car has "shoes" which collect power of up to 1k Volts from a specialized rail through
collector shoes. Workday was also an amazing experience. Workday is a cloud management
company that helps other companies manage everything from finances to human capital.
I met with several QAs (quality assurance) who's job was essentially to find faults and
other mistakes within something. After finding an issue, they help fix and control it
by connectng with differnt teams. Workday gave me an insight on how a software company
works day to day.
Patriot Jet Team Foundation
2020 January
In 10th grade, I took a tour of airspace which was hosted by the Patriot Jet
Team. The field trip helped connect with the aerospace topics that I was learning
in Principle of Engineering. I got a deeper insight into how the four laws of
aerodynamics: drag, thrust, lift, and weight, are applied to a rocket. I was able
to get some inspiration to build my own paper rocket for the project which you can
find within the projects tab. Overall, the trip helped me gain more experience on
how university students use their classes and school opportunities to help them get
a job in the engineering field.
Guest Speakers
Jason Yosinski
2019 October
In 10th grade,
Jason Yosinski
visited our school to talk to us about Artificial Intelligence and
Machine Learning. This was my first introduction to the topic
so I was very curious to learn about it. I learned how neural netwroks
work and the effect of tweaking the nodes to perfect the program.
Learning from an actual software developer has helped me understand
the knowledge and the skills needed to become one. Not only developers
need basic programming fundamentals, they also need problem solving skills
and a creative mind to get a job.
Maynard A. Holliday
2019 October
In 10th grade, Maynard Holliday spoke about his life and where he worked.
His presentation was heavily focused on Chernobyl. In 1982, a nuclear reactor
blew up in Ukraine sending and spreading massive amounts of uranium atoms. The
reactor due to massive surge of heat that was caused by the failure of the
cooling systems. There was a direct impact on the environment, as gamma radiation
extreme heat, and rubble/debris made it very difficult to look for survivors.
The talk allowed me to realize how important is to make sure that all activities
have to be done carefully, with proper backup systems.
Anthony Strawa
2019 December
In 10th grade, Anthony Strawa, a former NASA scientist, gave a talk
on the dangers of air pollution. Currently, Strawa works with Sustainable
Silicon Valley to help tackle the issue. Air pollution is severly affected
by the burning of fossil fuels and gasoline. Thus, he warned us about the
dangers that traffic jams cause, more than just time wasting for people
stuck in it, but the damage it does to the environment. Cars release
soot particles which have lots of carbons and other heavy metals which
pollute the air and make it dangerous to breathe.
Donald Jamaes
2021 November
From guest speaker Donald James, I have learned a lot of important information.
The main thing that I learned was that having good manners is one of the most
important fundamental toolsets you have. Good manners are not just helpful in
everyday life, they can help you secure a job. Nowadays, most people have similar
educational and technological backgrounds so they are very even on that front.
So in order to stand out, having kind and caring manners will certainly create a
difference between you and others. You have to not only say nice things and be
kind, but you have to take action as well like holding doors for others, giving
your full attention when someone is speaking to you, and more. Donald James covered
all of this in his book where he talks about how to get good manners as well as his
time at NASA.
Santa Clara and San Jose State University
2019 December
In 10th grade, I went on a campus tour to both San Jose State and Santa Clara University. Since I am a high schooler, I was interested in learning about university life and how to get accepted. The trip provided me with more than just the answers; the tour showed me how to apply for various majors like Computer Science major which I can apply for. Santa Clara University also showed me how I can learn biotech, one of the fastest-growing industries, while still taking regular computer science classes. Overall, the trip helped me gain more experience on how university students use their classes and school opportunities to help them get a job in the engineering field.
Roche Molecular Systems
2020 January
In 10th grade, my class and I visited the biotechnology company Roche Molecular Systems. It was an amazing introduction as to what biotechnology exactly is. I got to see niche machines that do complicated tests and complex tasks to help scientists find information. It helped me realize how important biotecnology as it grows in the future, as it can combat diseases, viruses, and other biological problems. Through Roche, I not only met scientists, but I had a chance to talk to sales people, engineers, directors, and more. Overall, it was a great expeience as it broadened my viewpoint on what engineering could be.
BART and Workday
2019 November
In 10th grade, I had an oppurtunity to go to a civil and software engineer company, BART and Workday respectively. BART allowed me to find how the BART works, in terms of the train movement and the power. There are different types of "cars" (compartments, A2, B2, C1, etc and depending on the need, different compartments can be put together. Each car has "shoes" which collect power of up to 1k Volts from a specialized rail through collector shoes. Workday was also an amazing experience. Workday is a cloud management company that helps other companies manage everything from finances to human capital. I met with several QAs (quality assurance) who's job was essentially to find faults and other mistakes within something. After finding an issue, they help fix and control it by connectng with differnt teams. Workday gave me an insight on how a software company works day to day.
Patriot Jet Team Foundation
2020 January
In 10th grade, I took a tour of airspace which was hosted by the Patriot Jet Team. The field trip helped connect with the aerospace topics that I was learning in Principle of Engineering. I got a deeper insight into how the four laws of aerodynamics: drag, thrust, lift, and weight, are applied to a rocket. I was able to get some inspiration to build my own paper rocket for the project which you can find within the projects tab. Overall, the trip helped me gain more experience on how university students use their classes and school opportunities to help them get a job in the engineering field.
Jason Yosinski
2019 October
In 10th grade, Jason Yosinski visited our school to talk to us about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This was my first introduction to the topic so I was very curious to learn about it. I learned how neural netwroks work and the effect of tweaking the nodes to perfect the program. Learning from an actual software developer has helped me understand the knowledge and the skills needed to become one. Not only developers need basic programming fundamentals, they also need problem solving skills and a creative mind to get a job.
Maynard A. Holliday
2019 October
In 10th grade, Maynard Holliday spoke about his life and where he worked. His presentation was heavily focused on Chernobyl. In 1982, a nuclear reactor blew up in Ukraine sending and spreading massive amounts of uranium atoms. The reactor due to massive surge of heat that was caused by the failure of the cooling systems. There was a direct impact on the environment, as gamma radiation extreme heat, and rubble/debris made it very difficult to look for survivors. The talk allowed me to realize how important is to make sure that all activities have to be done carefully, with proper backup systems.
Anthony Strawa
2019 December
In 10th grade, Anthony Strawa, a former NASA scientist, gave a talk on the dangers of air pollution. Currently, Strawa works with Sustainable Silicon Valley to help tackle the issue. Air pollution is severly affected by the burning of fossil fuels and gasoline. Thus, he warned us about the dangers that traffic jams cause, more than just time wasting for people stuck in it, but the damage it does to the environment. Cars release soot particles which have lots of carbons and other heavy metals which pollute the air and make it dangerous to breathe.
Donald Jamaes
2021 November
From guest speaker Donald James, I have learned a lot of important information. The main thing that I learned was that having good manners is one of the most important fundamental toolsets you have. Good manners are not just helpful in everyday life, they can help you secure a job. Nowadays, most people have similar educational and technological backgrounds so they are very even on that front. So in order to stand out, having kind and caring manners will certainly create a difference between you and others. You have to not only say nice things and be kind, but you have to take action as well like holding doors for others, giving your full attention when someone is speaking to you, and more. Donald James covered all of this in his book where he talks about how to get good manners as well as his time at NASA.