Andrew was drawn to engineering by the satisfaction of seeing a design become “something that actually works.”
“I like hands-on engineering, and Cornell offered a lot of opportunities there,” he says. “I also liked the size and the site of the school; I didn't’ want to be in a big city.”
Andrew is on the Mini Baja Project Team, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, which builds an off-road vehicle powered by a small (10 horsepower) engine every year. “We built the whole car, including the frame,” says Andrew.“I also built an air motor in MAE 225. I spend a lot of time in the machine shop.”
Last summer, Andrew interned at GE Aviation in Lynn, Mass., building aircraft engines. “I have an aerospace concentration. I plan to go back to GE after graduation, then go to grad school a few years later—a professional development course," he says. "I really want to get into the aerospace industry.”
In his role as an Engineering Ambassador, Andrew advises incoming students to get involved in one of the project teams, such as Mini Baja, as quickly as possible. “That’s one thing that allowed me to take a lot of the knowledge I had gained in the classroom and put it immediately to use,” he says.
Approaching graduation, Andrew is surprised by how much he’s learned at Cornell. “It’s been very open and inviting to learn," he says. "There’s a lot of focus on making sure we really learn the material and are able to apply it, that information doesn't just remain concepts in books.”
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