Welcome to Jacobs’ Journal, and I encourage you to continue exploring our team and the work we’ve created so far. My name is Trisha Nguyen, and I am proud to introduce myself as one of the founders of this journal. I have recently joined the Structural Engineering program and am set to conclude my undergraduate experience by 2022. Although I will be editing and interacting with research across each department in the Jacobs School of Engineering (JSOE), I will be focusing my contributions to research in Additive Manufacturing materials and processes, material properties and solid mechanics. The more I learn, the more curious I am (I’m sure you can relate!) so I expect I’ll be flexible with the pieces I put out. I’m learning more and more about software and data acquisition, even nanoengineering, and fun fact: I’m a Literature minor, so I’m often nose-deep in Romantic poetry or plays. If you’re looking for a recommendation, check out A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen!

One thing you may not know about me, I enrolled “Undeclared” as a freshman, and I applied into JSOE three times total. You can imagine how stubborn I can be outside of school… I’ve often felt intimidated and overwhelmed by opportunities and the amount of work engineering students face, and I definitely felt like an imposter pursuing these things while I was not yet in a program. Soon I learned it is incredibly important to understand your strengths and the value of your knowledge. During that time, I kept learning, and I contributed to project teams and personal endeavors, including establishing this club! The main goal of Jacobs’ Journal is to provide a unique opportunity to our writers – who can be anyone, from any major – to explore different research topics and gain tangible experience along the way. No matter what you are facing, have confidence in your experience up to this point, continue defining and working on your strengths. It is something I continue to tell myself, and I hope that you may feel inspired to seek out new involvement.