Greetings from Rowan ECE!
In addition to our Accepted Students Day coming up this Saturday (you are joining us, right? see the program in my recent e-mail here), some of our current students and alumni also want to share their experiences. I will be sending their letters and stories through this "My Rowan ECE Experience" series.
In this issue of "My Rowan ECE experience," we hear from a current ECE senior, Alison Silvestri. Alison very quickly made herself an indispensable part of the "Women in Engineering" club as she describes below. Alison also tells us how she originally applied (and admitted) to Mechanical Engineering, and why she later changed her major to ECE.
Hope to see all of you this Saturday (April 9) at the Accepted Students Day.
Dr. Robi Polikar
Professor and Department Head
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Dear Prospective Student:
Congratulations on your acceptance to Rowan University! You are one step closer to your first day of college and the next phase of your education! Many of you have probably heard back from other colleges and universities that you have applied to and are now in the decision process of your journey. Finding the right school to go to plays an important role in how your college experience will turn out, and I’m here to share with you my reason for choosing Rowan and some of my fondest memories that were made right here in the College of Engineering!
My name is Alison Silvestri, and I am a senior majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). I’m from North Jersey and I originally applied to Rowan as a Mechanical Engineering major way back in the Fall of 2017. When I was in high school my favorite class was physics and I always imagined becoming a mechanical engineer and building a career in the field. I believed that nothing would ever sway me from that decision, but boy was I wrong! Walking into the Rowan College of Engineering Accepted Students Day back in March of 2018 is a day that I will never forget.
When I first entered Rowan and Engineering Hall I was overwhelmed by the various projects, clubs, organizations, and students trying to grab my attention and convince me that Rowan was the place to be. I decided that starting from the top and working my way down was a good plan and I eventually found myself on the third floor of Engineering Hall, home of the ECE department. Walking off of the elevator, I was greeted by none other than Dr. Polikar. He was genuinely interested in all of my questions and after a bit of discussion, suggested that I look into switching my major to ECE.
While talking to Dr. Polikar may have had an impact in my decision to switch, the biggest push came from talking to the ECE students and seeing their projects in action. From drones to VR and other up-and-coming technologies and projects, ECE’s had an involvement in almost all of the projects, even the ones not specifically made for ECE students. The range of projects presented during the open house was amazing and the thought of working on the projects encouraged me to ultimately switch from MechE to ECE.
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Now I’m sure one of the many concerns you may have about ECE is the technical rigor involved with the major. I’d be lying to you if I said that ECE is an easy field. This is where the support network of your classmates, upperclassmen, professors, and family comes into play. Take advantage of all that Rowan has to offer. Join clubs, get involved, and makes friends with people in your major and in other majors. |
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One of the first clubs that I joined on campus was Women in Engineering (WIE), a branch off of Rowan’s IEEE chapter, one of the largest student organizations on campus. I even ran for a WIE E-board position and won during my first semester. After acting as the activities chair for 2 years, I challenged myself and ran for Vice President, a position that I held up until last semester.
One of my favorite events that WIE hosted is the annual wearable electronics competition. Staying up until 1 in the morning working on our project is still one of my fondest memories, and though it was a little stressful, it was fun to work with my friends and we all felt very accomplished when we produced a working project.
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Above is an image of my team during the 2019 competition. That being said, I encourage each and every one of you to join as many clubs and organization as you can and run for an E-board position. You never know what great opportunities and memories you’ll make! |
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Speaking of memories, engineering clinics have always been the highlight of my week during my first year. It was a chance to learn the fundamentals of all engineering disciplines from wind and solar power labs to algae research, and my personal favorite, the universal design project. Clinic was the perfect time to meet students in other engineering majors, and working on a team with people studying different fields opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and diversified the people that I interacted with. |
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The universal design project was my favorite clinic project during my first year. It was assigned during the spring semester, and it gave my teammates and me a chance to show off our engineering design skills that we have culminated during our first semester. The project was student led and the professor was there to oversee and provide feedback on our progress. Our goal was to design and 3D print a toy that would be fun for children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. My team decided to create an action-figure type dragon that we marketed as Ladon the Dragon. |
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Clinic is an eight-semester course sequence and I think it’s fitting to mention my current, and sadly last, clinic at Rowan. The past two semesters I was given the opportunity to work on the development of an exoskeleton to prevent human falls. This project has the potential to have real-world applications and integrates all aspects of engineering from the machining of the device to the electrical control system to the biomedical standards that are considered. It has been an amazing experience to work with my team and watch the project grow from the inherited knee device to the newly created hip device. |
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This year marks my fourth and final year at Rowan and I’m sure some of you are wondering why I decided on Rowan in the first place. Honestly, Rowan wasn’t originally my first choice, but if I had the chance to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Leaving Rowan with a reputable degree, little to no debt, a job, and most importantly, the priceless memories, is something that I would never change. From late night projects with friends to early morning study sessions, from weekend mini-golf outings to movie nights, Rowan holds some of my fondest memories that I’m positive all of you will be able to recreate with your own Rowan family. I hope that by sharing my experiences at Rowan I have helped you take one step further on your college decision journey. Regardless of what school you choose and what major you decide on, I wish you all the best in all of your future endeavors. |
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Regards,
Alison Silvestri
Rowan ECE Class of 2022
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Electrical and Computer Engineering
Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering
Rowan University
Glassboro, NJ 08028
http://www.rowan.edu/ece
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