The interview was for a position as a programming embedded systems/microcontroller, exactly the work I loved. I was blowing through the technical questions, thanks to Purdue’s undergraduate education, and was truly connecting with my interviewer. I was feeling the warm and fuzzy glow we all feel when we are rocking an interview. While I was explaining my senior design project, my interviewer asked me the question, “Why did you design it that way?” That simple question surprised me and caught me off guard. I was thoroughly prepared to impress him with the technical details of this project but had not prepared anything for why I had laid out my touchscreen in that specific way.

During my years of undergrad, I had been taught how to write code, how to build and debug circuits, and run simulations. I was never taught why I should add certain features (beyond it being just cool to add them) or why I should design a product in a specific way. I had laid out my touchscreen simply to be what I wanted, and I fumbled my way through an answer. I recovered and finished the interview, but it left an impression on me.

I did not know why I should add this feature and remove the other except for that one functioned better technically with the rest of the system. I designed inputs for users based on what was technically easiest for me to implement, not what was based on principles of user experience/interface design. I didn't even know the principles of user experience/user interface design. Over the next few months, the feeling that I needed, and wanted, to learn more about the field grew.

Luckily, I already knew of Purdue’s MEM program and started to seriously look into its details near graduation. The flexibility of the one-year track was astounding. I could take any engineering course I liked in any department and that alone sold me. One extra year spent in school was perfect for taking all the graduate level classes in embedded systems that I wished I could while exploring the field of human factors in industrial engineering.

Now that I am near the end of the program, I can truly say that I am a far better electrical engineer than I was at the end of undergrad. Engineering is not purely about creating something, it is about creating something for someone to solve specific problems. I believe the best engineers are those who are able to truly understand. I now feel confident to enter into industry and strive to do what I did not know before.