CU Solar Boat: gathering the skills and the experience needed to bring alternative energy into the mainstream and fuel a more sustainable future.
While the link between engineering and positive world change can often get lost in a flurry of detailed formulations and carefully crafted diagrams, nowhere is this connection clearer than in the landscape of project teams housed under Cornell’s College of Engineering. My experience with CU Solar Boat, for example, has been 
instrumental in helping to strengthen this tie between our curriculum and our role in revolutionizing the future. We are an undergraduate project team working to design and construct a single-occupant, solar-powered vessel that will carry the Cornell spirit to the intercollegiate Solar Splash Competition. While our objective is speed, what we learn along the way is vastly more important — we are gathering the skills and the experience needed to bring alternative energy into the mainstream and fuel a more sustainable future. As the youngest and smallest project team on campus, CUSB is unique in that every member can remain incredibly involved in each aspect of the production process. Our team is composed of five engineering sub-teams — drivetrain and steering, hull, solar, system controls, and business — that each specialize in actualizing one facet of our boat’s design. More seasoned teammates serve as guides for younger members as they acquire technical expertise that surpasses what is learned in a lecture hall. From working with CAD software to soldering solar cells or machining anti-ventilation plates, the emphasis on hands-on discovery is an essential component of the project team advantage.
My weekends in Spain were spent travelling to different cities within the country, improving my Spanish, and exploring the incredible city of Madrid! My other favorite city was Valencia, where all the old people wore colorful walking suits and hats for their Sunday strolls. I travelled to Valencia alone for a single weekend but met so many friends in the hostel where I stayed, and some at the beach too! I also saw the Mediterranean ocean for the first time!
On a typical weekday, I spend the morning and early afternoon attending my online classes. After those are over, I usually make a sandwich or some other quick food for lunch and enjoy eating while watching an episode of Arrested Development. Once I’m finished eating, I work on some assignments for my classes. I like to get my assignments done a few days in advance of when they are due, which is why I tend to work on them earlier in the day.
My parents came to the United States, like many others, for the opportunity to give their children a better life. They always emphasized the importance of education and the idea of seeking out knowledge was ingrained in me since birth. The American Dream that my parents had thought that I was getting was not the reality. Going to a Title I school in the Bronx meant that my school lacked funding, resources, and programs that would push me to be successful. With my parent’s support, I was able to seek out opportunities that would allow me to seek higher education. Through the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), I was able to come into Cornell Engineering.
Coming to Cornell four years ago, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I was thrilled to be an engineer, excited about all the people I would meet, and looking forward to moving to New York, but beyond that I had no idea what it would be like. I could have never imagined this, finishing off my senior year in the midst of a pandemic with half of my classes on Zoom. I could never have imagined the powerful depth of the friendships I have made at Cornell, which have prevailed no matter the circumstances. And I could have never imagined the current career trajectory on which I have found myself, a trajectory which was completely off the table when I first stepped foot onto North Campus.
In my first semester at Cornell, I decided to sign up for WICC’s (Women in Computing at Cornell’s) Lunch Bunch Program, which allowed female undergraduate students to converse with professors over a meal. In one session, there were around 7 other female undergraduates interested in computing majors getting to know Madeleine Udell, a professor in the Operations Research and Information Engineering department at Cornell. After hearing her impressive list of achievements, I needed to know: How had her experience as a woman in a predominantly male field been? She chuckled when I asked this and told me that she actually pushes against the status quo; she hasn’t had many terrible memories in which she was pushed against because of her gender. I almost did not believe her, until I realized that it was her resilient mindset that allowed her to not just come out of university and the workplace unscathed, but also stronger.
I believe that peer advisors are important because they provide an immediate support system and informational resource to new students.
When I first arrived at Cornell, I participated in the Prefreshman Summer Program (PSP) to get accustomed the university atmosphere and to get started on classes. During this time, I met some of my closest friends that continue to support me. Specifically, many of my friends were other engineers that I interacted with during the Diversity Programs in Engineering (DPE) events and Ryan Scholars meetings. Leaning on the network that we created over that summer, many of us continued to work together as study partners throughout our introductory courses. As a first gen student, I found connecting with other first-generation students to be essential for my progress.
Designing, structural analyzing, fabricating, welding, and constructing are the core experiences that Steel Bridge members gain from participating in a Cornell project team. Apart from providing hands-on experience simulating real-life practice in the industry, the Steel Bridge project team is also an opportunity for students to be involved in the nation-wide American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Student Steel Bridge Competition. During every academic year, our members create bridge designs under the proposed competition specifications and conduct structural analysis on the design. After electing a bridge design with the best structural efficiency, our team proceeds to fabricate and weld all bridge members in-house. The finished bridge members are assembled and constructed at the competition.