I joined Purdue after working 2 years full-time as an engineer and while I have a lot of technical skills to solve problems, I realized in order to progress in my career I had a lot more to learn.

Name: Boluwatife Tawab Fashina

What is your area of interest within ECE?

Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning

Why did you choose the project track?

The project track is giving me an opportunity to have some entrepreneurial experience in terms of setting up the foundations of building a project up from scratch, learning how to manage it, and working in teams.

What project are you working on?

My team and I are designing a smart pet monitoring system for cat owners that automatically tracks and records their pet’s behavior for health assessments.

What do you like about the program? What skills did you gain/are you gaining?

The entrepreneurship course we had to take gave me good insights into starting up a business and all the important steps to take especially for individuals without a business  background. Along with this, the 3 ideas to innovation courses are also teaching all the non-technical aspects we need working as engineers like communication, leadership and time management.

How will earning the MSECE/participating in the project track help you reach your career goals?

I want to learn, grow and work in this field for as long as possible and eventually rise into leadership roles in the future and this could be in the industry or starting up my own business, so all the entrepreneurship, teamwork and project management skills I’m picking up with this project track masters will serve me well as I try and achieve my long term goals.

What advice would you give to a prospective student interested in the project track?

Come in with an open-mind and use it as a fresh-start. I joined Purdue after working 2 years full-time as an engineer and while I have a lot of technical skills to solve problems, I realized in order to progress in my career I had a lot more to learn.

Where will you work after graduation and what will your title be?

Eaton Corporation, Power Electronics Engineer