“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Sir Isaac Newton
To be in academia is to stand on the shoulders of giants. However, success may not be intrinsic in the height; it may lie in learning how to see further.
UCLA’s faculty and educational resources available to undergraduate students are objectively excellent. Take the Material Science Engineering (MSE) department, one of the top-ranked in the US. In class, we have a small cohort of around 30 students per year. With around 8:1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, we can learn from and engage with some top researchers in their fields. In theory, we have a curriculum of crucial fundamentals from solid mechanics to thermodynamics, from polymers to metals. In practice, we are surrounded by lab equipment worth more than tens of thousands and opportunities to apply to labs and familiarize ourselves with research. In the Samueli newsletter, we are prompted as part of a community “Engineering Change,” making big, bold moves to inch towards a better future.
Still, sometimes I stand on the shoulders of giants and feel lost in the weeds of engineering. Drowned out in homework, midterms, lab reports, research papers, and exam preparation. I have been waking up at 6:30 in the morning and retiring late at night as the final draw-in, often studying nearly 12 hours a day. In extreme cases, the week I first drafted this piece was filled with jarring deadlines: a 3000-word research paper, a 10-minute business presentation, a quiz, a final, 2 problem sets, a lab report, and a study guide. The grind is smooth, sometimes enjoyable, routinely oscillatory in intensity, and generally evergoing throughout the quarters. I am not complaining about the academic rigor, which is why I switched to engineering school and a double major pathway in the first place, hoping to build the time/task management skills necessary for a sharp workflow and a work-life balance (although I will confess I still have a long way to go).
What I am reflecting on is a realization that I am accumulating the necessary facts to become an engineer without assembling the essential perspective of an engineer. Take my other major, art history, for an example. A professor once told us in class that an artwork has three meanings: to the artist, to its contemporaries, and to us now. None of it really matters. But learning how to put them in context and in conversation absolutely does. This turns out to be the best lesson in becoming an art historian. Of course, one needs to build up the knowledge base of key theories and methods and artists and events. However, an art historian’s transferable skills and competitive edge lie in their ability to see the larger picture outside of an object: to find, add, and deliver value to a subject. I feel like I am only able to say I am becoming an art historian when I learned this unique perspective, whereas I am only a fanatic when I have memorized the names of all 35 of Van Gogh’s self-portraits (although most of them are appropriately named Self-Portrait).
The UCLA MSE Department's mission statement includes training “highly qualified students through an educational program that cultivates excellence.” As pre/early-career young adults, part of this “qualified…excellence” is to prepare for potentially volatile careers and leadership positions. To be individuals setting our own and potentially a team’s vision, the ability to see with and communicate the perspective of one’s field may be extremely helpful. Outside of the expected skill sets, what is the unique perspective and approach to a problem people expect you to bring to the team as an engineer, be it in policy, business, or a creative role?
I think the essence of engineering is grounded in identifying problems and finding solutions. How do we find the correct problems that need to be solved to effectively innovate? How do we break down a large question into dissectable, quantifiable experiments and action items? How do we go from a list of questions to a list of solutions to tangible/digital products?
To be honest, I don’t have good answers to these questions. Hence, this is not a challenge to the current education system, but an invitation and the beginning of a series of conversations. I invite students to take a moment out of their grind to reflect on what they are truly here to learn. I invite faculty to take just 5 to 10 minutes of the first or last class (we can all read the syllabus) to share some useful advice and thoughts on their own perspective and experiences.
Lastly, I believe seeing further is not seeing alone but seeing together. So, I will do my part as Outreach Chair of the Materials Research Society at UCLA but most importantly as a student to sit down with peers, faculty, and professionals to hear their unique learning experiences and thoughts.
Perhaps, the first step to seeing further is better communication with ourselves and the giants.
