Throughout the bulk of my undergraduate career, I was near certain that I wanted to work in industry immediately following the completion of my bachelor’s degree. I had completed a one-year co-op with Baxter Healthcare and two rotations with GE Aviation and GE Power and Water before the start of my senior year. Nearly two years of experience in two separate companies had me utterly convinced that industry was my path.

My viewpoint shifted abruptly, however, when I began work on an undergraduate thesis in materials science at Northwestern University. I was not part of any research group at the time, so I searched the faculty directory at Northwestern for topics I found interesting. Because I recently had completed my first internship with GE Aviation, I thought that I might have enough background knowledge in composites to help me transition from industry to research.