Name: Amy Gullins
Program: Materials Engineering
Degree you are studying toward: Bachelor of Engineering
Expected year of graduation: 2021
Institution: McMaster University
Email: Send Email
Fun Facts About Me
If your best friend had to describe you in 10 words or less, what would they say?:Happy, outgoing and friendly individual who cares immensely about others
Share one fun fact about yourself: I have dual citizenship- Canadian and Australian
What do you want to accomplish in the next 10 years?: I want to finish my engineering degree and get my Masters in Biomedical and Biomaterials Engineering so that I can help people. Within the next 10 years, I hope to do more traveling, I have been very fortunate in the fact that I have traveled internationally several times however I would love to see more places and be there long enough to really immerse myself in their (wherever I decide to go) particular lifestyle. That being said if I can help just one person fix a biological problem using my knowledge I will be content and that, happiness, is the ultimate goal for me, a week from now, a month from now, and 10 years from now; I want to be happy.
The most inspiring engineer I know is ....... Because ........?: The most inspiring engineer I know is Dr. Katherine Grandfield. She is a professor at McMaster University and she inspires me because not only did she attend McMaster for the program that I am taking but she is the first female to teach Materials at McMaster and she is still very young. Due to the fact she is female, she has faced adversity from the cruelty of some male students yet she handled it with grace and dignity, proving that women in engineering belong here just as much as men. She teaches in such a way that it is captivating and knowledgeable yet still approachable. She did her Ph.D. abroad and she seems to be very happy. These are all things that I aspire to do and be at her age and knowing that she went through all of the things that I will face inspires me to continue in even the toughest of times.
Profile Questions
Why did you choose your program of study?: In all honesty, I made a spur of the moment decision, I was choosing between Engineering and Health Sciences and I was intrigued to find out what, exactly, engineering was. Everyone explains engineering as "an innovative and creative way to solve problems" which does not explain much and now that I;m in the program I understand that it IS hard to explain. However, looking back at my high school experience there is one specific moment that I believe intrigued me so intensely that I chose engineering and that is when we were taught about Kevlar vests. The fact that humans could take their knowledge about polymers and create a material so powerful that it does not yield to bullets is something that I am still keen to figure out. I think that curiosity and the drive to figure out the world around me is what made me choose engineering
What has been your favourite course (in Engineering) and why?: Thus far my favourite course in Engineering has been Programming. I had never done a programming course and I had only ever seen programming done on T.V. so it was very new to me. At the start of the semester, I couldn't fathom that I would be able to write code and produce a working program and yet by the end of it that is exactly what I could do. Seeing that kind of slow success was satisfying and learning a new skill that, I believe, is useful no matter what I do in the future, made the course my favourite.
What has been the best part of your Engineering education to date?: My favourite part of engineering has been the community that I have become involved in. I am a fairly social person and collaboration is something that I look forward to as part of my career, however, going into university I was extremely nervous about making friends. I grew up 4 hours away from McMaster and therefore I knew nobody in my program. Welcome Week I met some incredible, smart, funny, and kind individuals. I made connections to upper years that help mentor, support and honestly completely accept me as their friend. I truly feel as though Hamilton is my home, McMaster is my community and Engineering is my family, and I don't know if other faculties are like that but my favourite part of my Engineering education thus far is meeting and coming to know and adore the other amazing people in my program.
What do you hope to do after you graduate?: There are copious goals I hope to achieve in my life but after I graduate my undergrad I still have several years until I'm fully done school (as I plan on completing a masters degree). After that, the ultimate career goal for me is to create a biomaterial that revolutionizes health care and improves the quality of life for patients or those in need.