Spotlight: Kinga Wrobel ’18

Kinga is an 8th-semester senior mechanical engineering student from Norwalk, Connecticut. 

  • What semester is this for you?
    • 8th
  • When are you graduating?
    • Spring 2018
  • What’s your major?
    • Mechanical Engineering
  • Where are you from?
    • Norwalk, CT
  • What on-campus activities/organizations are you involved in?
    • Nguyen Research Group
  • Any fun facts?
    • I interned at a company that made explosives for rockets and regularly got to go to explosives testing. During big tests, I would hear the ceiling shake over my desk, even though the test site was over half a mile away. It sounds like a truck is crashing into the building.
  • Any plans after graduation?
    • I’ll be testing jet engines all over the world for Pratt & Whitney!
  • What is your advice to incoming freshmen?
    • Get involved and do it early. Don’t wait until junior year to join something just because you were too shy freshman year. Make sure some of these things will look good on a resume, like a research lab or an academic society, and stick with it! Although it is okay to explore and change your mind, make sure you have one or two things that show you can follow through with (i.e. getting on an organization’s executive board or staying with a lab long enough to get a publication as an undergrad!)
  • Where is your favorite spot on campus to study or hangout?
    • The second floor of the bookstore. It’s usually quiet so it’s a good spot to study with lots of natural light from the big windows. If you get bored of studying, it’s also a good place to people-watch. There’s plenty of pedestrians and cars trying to cross the Gampel/ Bookstore intersection at lunchtime. Bonus: there’s a Starbucks right downstairs to fuel your coffee addiction.
  • If you were an undergraduate for one more semester, what would you do with the time?
    • I would definitely do a study abroad. Most engineering students in past years would have to take an extra semester anyways, as there aren’t many requirements you can fulfill for the school of engineering abroad. I would take the minimum amount of credits and just travel as much as I could before I go into the ‘real world’.