Like many of the students in this class my skills are what you would typically expect from a senior mechanical engineering student. However, everybody has strengths and weaknesses I believe I am better suited in design and manufacturing rather than analysis and research in the mechanical engineering world. My calculus and mathematical solving skills are nothing to brag about, it is my creativity and 3Dimensional thinking that sets me apart. Although I am design lenient, I did enjoy classes like fluid mechanics, computational methods and differential equations. I would classify CAD to be my best design skill (the sailboat render is a project I’m currently working on) closely followed by manufacturing know-how, I have had more machining experience than the average MechE student both at school and in my previous internship however I am always surprised there is more to learn. I want to get better at programming, I have some Arduino experience and I plan on using a micro-controller on my project.

My career aspirations change relatively often however, I do know that I want to be involved in mechanical design at first to gain experience either in the renewable energy industry or designing vehicles, boats, trains, planes or spaceships specifically. I would also be happy doing any kind of product development. I am also very interested in composite materials (carbon fiber, Kevlar etc..) they are becoming more common and could be the solution to many engineering problems. Since I grew up in the coffee farming world (Pictured is my family’s farm), I have always had the dream to own or manage a plantation in Mexico, I want to combine my agricultural roots with my mechanical engineering dream and I believe there could be the possibility to engineer the next generation of composite materials from plant-based composites (hemp, flax, bamboo). I am thinking about going to graduate school (1-3 years after graduating from CU). Lastly, I know that some day I want to build a racing sailboat from my own design and sail an important transoceanic race with it.