Kirsten Meng – Mech Ambassadors

A little bit about me…
My name is Kirsten. I am in my early 20’s and exploring life! How do I do it? Through a lot of self-exploration, trying out new activities, and all the while balancing with my studies. Let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy. There are times where I found myself a little overwhelmed. But also let me say this: these struggles helped me learn more about how to manage my life, and how to improve on my well-being. One thing I have always found that helps me through: my connections and my support network. And there are tons of people in Mechanical Engineering that are helpful, friendly, and out-going! We help each other laugh through the hard times and create the good times, like soaking in the sun on a long hike in the mountains after a stressful exam. Or exploring new hobbies like rock climbing in the Aviary. This is why I love UBC and Mech, because when the professor is tell you to take the occasional hike first thing in class, you know it’s a well-rounded degree to take. This environment has really helped me go out and explore the many activities and opportunities Vancouver offers. In the past three years, I have went on trips to Toronto with Engineers Without Borders, facilitated a trivia for E-Week, and made a carbon fiber chassis for ChemECar. If you also would like to dive into the diverse experiences offered in the Mech Program or at UBC in general, feel free to contact me at the email provided. I look forward to connecting with you!

I wish I had known before I came…
There are so many tools in the online world! This includes the Mechanical Engineering website, where they offer free tours so you can get to know Mechanical Engineering labs, meet Mech students and ask questions. This website, Mechanical Ambassadors, would have been very helpful to me when I was choosing a specialization in first year. It really gives you a detailed understanding of what the average Mech student life is, much better than a 10 minute Q&A at the open house. If I had used this tool, I would have been much more confident in my choice in Mech and much more prepared for what’s to come. I strongly recommend you to read the other students’ unique experiences.

I chose mechanical engineering because…
Would you have guessed that I actually wanted to be a pediatrician? Yea, it’s very different from engineering. So how DID I end up here? There was a simple answer: I loved and excelled at Physics in high school whereas Biology bored me. The way that mathematical equations on a page could model and predict things happening in real life gives me goosebumps! Now take that and amplify it a thousand times, you get Mechanical Engineering. This is the program where you literally take torque and force equations and DESIGN your very own, moving, functional car! But that wasn’t the only reason I chose Mechanical Engineering. Another important reason is how applicable this program is to all fields of engineering. We are like the Jack-of-all-trades within the engineering faculty. You get to know electrical design, material design, and even entrepreneurship aspects of engineering, how cool and useful is that? Very.

Mechanical engineering at UBC in one word…
Diverse

What I like best about my program…
Like Diana mentioned in her profile and as I mentioned above, you get SO MUCH out of a single degree. Mechanical Engineering suits you up all the knowledge and skills you need to pursue any passion you have. From my co-op experience, I have done such a variety of tasks at work that I feel like it is a very big possibility that I will achieve my dream of working in the Renewable Energy industry.

Outside the classroom, I am involved with…

Club Mech (Publicity Representative)
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Aero designer)
Engineers Without Borders (former VP Strategy)
ChemECar (former Mech designer)
Shine-On Music
Working with Mech student services

Favourite moment/memory so far…
My first time making a remote controlled car out of scratch was in Mech 223 project course. The objective of the project was to design a RC car that can detect magnets underneath sand dunes. As soon as the magnet sensor on our team’s car started beeping, my heart was wildly rejoicing! I have never felt so achieved before.