The Hidden View of Engineering

How innovation can shape your way of viewing your surroundings

By Mirella Rivas, Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, University Innovation Fellow

“As engineers, we were going to be in a position to change the world – not just study it.” —Henry Petroski

When I started my major, I didn’t think of myself as an innovative or entrepreneurial person. If you ever had asked me back then, I may have not been able to connect these topics to my engineering career. I probably would have told you I thought they were for business related jobs. I know, right? It was kind of crazy for me to think that back then, but then again this concept was brought to the table so many times that I started to dig into it a little more. It’s a step I regret not doing back at the beginning.

During my first years of university I got involved in great experiences in innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E), in different programs, classes, etc. I gained more knowledge and loved the process of creating. The only thing that persisted in my mind was that I couldn’t think of I&E as more than startups and relate it into my own major and daily life environment.

As I started to get involved in more projects, I later understood that I&E was something that could be in the mix with engineering, but I couldn’t pinpoint it’s exact role. My wake up call was at a team meeting while in the UIF program, when discussing how our proposed projects complemented one another. Shaping the identity of the in I&E in our school, by helping students put into practice the basic toolkits, as well as teaching them the process to escalate projects. But while talking, it was when I realized that I wasn’t using or understanding the whole concept of I&E correctly, thinking it more for just business like ideas, when the whole idea of I&E is bring ideas to life, which can be used in a lot of areas of engineering work and it is truly in the mix with what we do.

We, as engineers, are continuously looking for solutions aimed to solve problems around us, and as inventors, engaging, understanding and brainstorming different approaches to solve them is in our blood. We might as well use I&E for starting a project, learn the necessities of a user you want to help, as well as to ideate possible solutions, create a prototype with the materials we have at hand, test it and iterate it. Knowing this now, I am also applying these methodologies with my investigation team while developing a robot!

With all the evolving and development we are having in all areas, we must be prepared to find new approaches to challenges, get out of the traditional path and find solutions. So when we had the opportunity to write something that we grew passionate about, I couldn’t stop thinking about this. I would like to encourage more engineering students like me and my fellow UIF teammates, to get involved when there is a problem you see and would really want to solve it. Do not stand by it; take a risk and try looking for the root of the problem. It can be something we could see in our daily life. Try new ideas, listen to the people involved in this problem and don’t be afraid of a “no’s” for an answer. Actually, a “no” could lead to an idea to iterate, develop and evolve into a better solution (trust me, it happens a lot). All this process will shape our engineering path, make us find our core and be a better professional.

I am thankful for having the opportunity to do this major, having found problems I really want to solve and doing the things I love. I want this to be my engineering path, what about yours?