Jose Figueroa

01/30/2016
"Believe you can do it and you're halfway there" It's a saying many of us have heard before but never really consider it real. I want to tell a story about how a simple opportunity help me get started to what I know call a hobby, coding. Last year, I was taking Advance Thermodynamics as one of my core classes for my major and as part of making the class a little The idea of creating something that with almost no knowledge of coding looked too much for me, but it was something I was definetely I wanted to try. With the help of some of my close friends who studied Computer Science and Engineering I was able to get a head start on the programs I needed as well as some support on basic ideas. For the period of 4 weeks I was able to present a final project to my professor who liked my project and gave me an internship for the summer.

During Summer and Fall of 2016 I worked along a student and the professor to complete an application that will be implemented in his class for Spring 2016. We were also able to participate in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 2016 National Conference Computer Aids for Chemical Engineering competiton in which we took first place competing with other groups.

After that, I took on myself to keep exploring other languages and projects that can help me become more marketable in industry. So far, I have learned C++, Java, HTML and so many programs that I have used to put together projects. I am thankful for my friends and mentors who saw my interest in computers and have believed in me to create these amazing projects that will not only have an impact on me, but that will be passed down for other students to work on.