“Live the questions now.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Looking back—and looking ahead—my undergraduate journey at UCLA has been like a puzzle, whose pieces I’ve discovered along the way. I’ve found them hidden in the corners of Engineering V, in my lab in Engineering VI, in Boelter Hall, and in Kerckhoff. I’ve uncovered them in the places where I’ve conducted and presented research I’m passionate about with the academic community, and in the various experiences that I’ve had as a Materials Science and Engineering major and student at UCLA.
Throughout my undergraduate studies, I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to explore my curiosities and learn to become an interdisciplinary engineer and researcher. I’ve witnessed how connected the research world and academic community are when presenting my research at conferences. I’ve been immersed in teams that are driven and passionate to discover and improve technologies for the betterment of our society.
However, my path wasn’t completely linear. I found pieces of my puzzle, one by one, as I gradually explored my interest in research progressing materials science and its intersections with varying fields, and my love for community outreach, science communication, and advocacy. Each step of the way, I try to live my questions in that moment, to pursue my interests, regardless of how diverse they are, so that I can learn, “Engineer Change”, and uncover new possibilities, new paths that I can take, and new puzzle pieces to pursue the interdisciplinary.
One of my first experiences in research was at my county’s science fair in secondary school, where I investigated the efficiency of solar power given weather variations. With my poster board, filled with printed paper describing my scientific method and smeared with purple glue sticks, I thought about how incredible research and science were, and how everyone at the fair, from the engineer volunteers who visited our posters to the students, was fascinated by various niche topics. I hadn’t known how I could integrate my passion for research and engineering with my interests in sustainable energy and materials science until I began my undergraduate journey at UCLA.
In our introductory materials science seminar course (MAT SCI 10), we were asked to write a paper about a materials science topic that we were drawn to. When writing my paper, I discovered how integral materials are for energy technologies, ranging from hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers to batteries. Through attending our department’s Friday seminars as well, I gained a deeper understanding of research topics from diverse branches of materials science, including the energy solutions I was fascinated by.
Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to explore various clean/sustainable energy projects. I’ve investigated fuel cell and electrolyzer catalysts, and ionomer thin film properties, structure, and performance for energy technologies as a research fellow for an NSF REU program advancing decarbonization and an intern at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At UCLA, I’ve delved into sustainable carbon mineralization and storage as an undergraduate researcher. I’m incredibly grateful to have been able to pursue my curiosity for sustainable energy and to investigate materials science solutions to aid these technologies. Through my long-term journey, I’ve been able to explore my passions and find my place within research. Each opportunity that I’ve had has broadened my lens on the possibilities of materials science and deepened my curiosity for how research advancing materials science intersects a suite of disciplines.
Through my work as well, I’ve discovered some of my most interesting research findings when I explored a new facet of the project I was curious about, and asked questions to understand the material fundamentally. Research has taught me to understand and embrace its non-linearity and unpredictability, because these moments allow for deeper understanding and new questions to be asked.
My experiences in research—and learning from researchers across UCLA and around the country and world—have solidified for me something extraordinary about materials science. One of the most exciting things about materials science is how innately interdisciplinary it is—from chemistry and physics fundamentals, to applications in energy technologies, biomaterials, chemical processes, and semiconductors.
My transformative experiences in research have applied key materials science concepts, from structure-property-performance relationships to characterization, combined with knowledge from fields such as chemical and environmental engineering. It turns out that curiosity allows you to find those intersections—find a field that you’re interested in, and chances are, materials science is incorporated into research advancing that field as well.
When you find the niche that you want to explore, I’d like to invite you to live your questions in that moment. Reach out to researchers in that field. Attend a research group meeting. Shadow a mentor in their work, and learn a new characterization technique. Explore, because even if the path is non-linear, you may find the direction that is meant for you.
As part of the Materials Science and Engineering department and the UCLA Materials Research Society, and as students at UCLA, we have so many opportunities to explore and pursue our questions and curiosities—whether through undergraduate research, the array of courses offered, project teams, academic, national laboratory, and industry internships, or the various interdisciplinary intersections that we can delve into.
You don’t have to find the answers or the correct path right away. Learn from the questions that pique your curiosity. Explore an elective in the MSE department that strikes you (such as Professor Schwalbe-Koda’s course on Machine Learning for Materials Science, or Professor Prikhodko’s course on Electron Microscopy). Take a class in a different department that captivates you (like Professor Patterson’s course on Engineering and Environmental Justice, or Dr. Mehta’s course on Clean-Technology Entrepreneurship). Delve deeper into a new opportunity that you come across. Reach out to a research lab that fascinates you. Find pieces of your own puzzle, and your path will take shape. Live your questions now, in the moment, and pursue your unique interdisciplinary journey.
