Teaching Outlook

The ability to teach and make a difference in students’ lives is one of the key reasons I aspire to have a career in academia. My ultimate goal is to help the community that supported me to get where I am today. I am one of ten siblings, all younger than me, and despite the challenges our family has faced, I was the first of my parents to graduate from a traditional high school and the first in my family to go to a four-year college. I once heard a family member say, “we are not the type of people who go to college,” yet here I am. Within academia 50% of university faculty have at least one parent that holds a graduate level degree, yet over 1/3 of college students are first generation. Not to mention <1% of all full-time professors are Hispanic females. I want to bridge the gap of information that leaves so many people behind. As faculty I can bring those experiences into a place that, frankly, wasn’t made for students like us. As a teacher I can draw on my own experiences and hurdles as a student to make the pathway to learning accessible for everyone and boost Diversity in higher education.

Teaching Interests

I am eager to teach both graduate and undergraduate courses in Engineering ethics, sensor design and manufacturing, water quality health, and environmental spatial data analysis. I am equipped to teach these courses due to my broad research in the topic and publication history. (Has not really happened yet I am not even through my prelims.)

Teaching Experience

During my second year I was a teaching assistant for EGR101. This introductory course into engineering is a project-based course that allows all first year students to get their first taste of engineering. (I will hopefully get the bass fellowship to teach a sensor design class but that has not happened yet.)

Mentoring Experience

In addition to being a TA, I have mentored two undergraduate students in my lab working on my research project. I will be conducting a mass connections project for the 2024 to 2025 academic year, in hopes of continuing research. In addition to my purely academic mentoring, I have taken on a greater role in the community. I have served as a BOOST mentor for high school students and have become a national graduate committee member for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers serving nearly 13,000 students. Mentoring in this capacity has allowed me to share my experience as a researcher guiding students along the research process and ultimately their academic journey.

In summary, my journey through academics have left me with the want to teach. I hope to inspire and guide the next generation of engineers as they take on the challenges the world sets before them.