"Even though I can’t play music, I really love music, and I really love being around people that love to play music. I tried to pick up drums, but I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t even into music that much in high school, but I really loved going to concerts with my friends in high school. Even if I didn’t like the bands, I liked the experience of being at concerts. When I came to RPI, I got involved in this community that put on small concerts on campus. I got to help run that and put together concerts. That was the coolest thing in the world.

And that inspired me to change what I wanted to study. I came to the school for chemical engineering, but after learning about all of the electronics that powered these concerts, I switched to electrical engineering. And I’ve come full circle. Music and electronics inspired me to change my major, and now I’m using my engineering knowledge to help musicians create better music.

I like that I’ve found a community of people that really love art and music, people that understand that the humanities are just as important as engineering. Without art, technology doesn’t ever get into anyone’s hands."