There are many reasons why students are inspired to study materials science and engineering at Cornell. Read the profiles below to hear directly from students about why they chose materials science, what they like about Cornell, and their advice for incoming students.
Lucy Raymond chose to study materials science and engineering because of her equal interests in physics, chemistry, coding, and biology. She became inspired to work on making better materials after learning how material failures accounted for the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. In her spare time, Lucy dances and holds leadership positions in her social sorority and in the Cornell Materials Society. Read more about Lucy and see why her advice to incoming students is to not worry about perfection.
Bill Liu chose to study materials science and engineering to improve people’s living quality and to provide engineering solutions to global, societal, and environmental problems. As an undergraduate, he has conducted research as part of two different laboratory groups. In the Jena-Xing Group, Bill studied gallium-oxide, using computer science to learn more about the material. In the Estroff Group, he studied calcite crystals in marine algae to learn more about the chemical and biological conditions that control crystallization. Read more about Bill and why his future is like “a quantum superposition.”
Hannah Contreras chose to study materials science and engineering because of its applications in renewable energy solutions. Most of her spare time is spent building solar panels for Cornell’s Solar Boat student project team, and she plans to pursue a Ph.D. before beginning a career “disrupting the energy sector by introducing new, cheap, and highly efficient solar solutions.” Read more about Hannah and why Cornell’s "any person… any study” motto encouraged her to apply.
The materials science research projects were enabled by funding from the Engineering Learning Initiatives program. Read more about Undergrads research biomedicine, clean energy, superconductors
Beth Straight ’23 shares how her time researching the biological pathways in cancers and stem cell development at MSE inspired her academic journey. Read more about Student finds passion for researching disease through MSE
After learning about exercise clothes woven with silver fibers to prevent bacteria growth, Grace is now doing her own fiber science research as an MSE student. Read more about Grace Falanga investigates PPE fabrics for electricians
Whenever I visit a workspace on the Engineering Quad it feels like that lab in Big Hero 6 with every student working on some project they are really passionate about.
