My name is Michael Evans, and I am majoring in electrical engineering. As graduation swiftly approaches, the experiences that I have gained in the last four years have done an excellent job at preparing me for the struggles and occurrences that I will face as an employed engineer. Purdue University has allowed me to develop a technical understanding of my field, as well as a strong work ethic and time-management skills. Also, as a Co-Op working at NASA Glenn Research Center, I have been able to apply these skills and achieve success in a real-world setting, while gaining valuable insight into furthering my education and the field of research. Due to these factors, I feel that I would be extremely credible as an entry-level engineer.
First and foremost, Purdue University has provided me with the proper skill sets to be able to effectively and efficiently perform the technical tasks required of an electrical engineer. Despite an exhausting amount of coursework, I have maintained an overall GPA of 4.0. This fact clearly demonstrates that I am able to understand material that is taught in school. However, what truly makes an engineer successful is to be able to translate classroom concepts to real-world applications. Through the challenges I have faced at Purdue, I am able to do this adequately. Some of the major sources of technical understanding have been the course-accompanying projects. In these projects, often times a considerable amount of knowledge was initially unknown, and ample research was required to be able to complete project milestones.
Additionally, these past four years have taught me how to work at my full potential and manage time as efficiently as possible. From what I have observed through my Co-Op, these skills are just as important as being well-versed in electrical engineering. Due in large part to the Honors First-Year Engineering program, where an extreme amount of coursework was assigned in a multitude of topics, I was able to learn how to adequately allocate time and prioritize responsibilities based on importance. Once being in a real-world setting, I have been able to use these skills while working on projects, and I have noticed that these are skills that almost all engineers could improve.
Lastly, working at NASA Glenn Research Center as a Co-Op has been an excellent way for me to evaluate my credibility as an engineer who will soon be looking for a full-time occupation. As suggested by the title, the center is mainly research based, and working there has given me considerable insight into this aspect of engineering. As a result, I have enjoyed working in the field of research and would like to continue once receiving my undergraduate degree. Through my coworkers, I have seen the importance of earning a graduate degree at my place of employment, and this has strengthened my desire to continue my education. While working as a Co-Op, I have been able to utilize the knowledge that I've learned at Purdue, specifically in the areas of embedded system design and digital signal processing. During my latest rotation, I was responsible for the design of the audio module portion of the extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit, which is responsible for tone generation, signal mixing, encoding and decoding of audio signals, and real-time filter implementation. Additionally, I was involved with the development of a filtering algorithm that works to remove structure-born vibration noise in systems that utilize microphone arrays. Throughout these projects, the technical knowledge, time-management, and work ethic skills that I have learned while at Purdue University have allowed me to rise above the "expected" role of a Co-Op and achieve great success.
My success inside the classroom and on-the-job clearly demonstrate that I have significant credibility as an entry-level engineer. In addition to this, my dedication to maintaining high-quality work and efficiently allocating my time speak very clearly about my readiness to work as an engineer.
