Attached is a link to a visual that describes the year-long service project that I engaged in during my 2nd year at Ohio State. I was presented with this opportunity through my scholars program.
About Me
Hello! My name is Manjot Kalkat. I was born and raised in West Chester, Ohio, which is a suburb about 20 minutes north of Cincinnati. I live with my mom, dad, older sister, younger sister, and grandma. Both of my parents are from India, so that is a big part of my life. I would describe myself as an Indian-American. My upbringing was mostly influenced by Indian culture through my parents, but I grew up American because I’ve lived my entire life here. Growing up in school, I came to love math, science, and art. I enjoy being creative, but also like to understand the way stuff works. This is what drew me to pursue engineering in college. Through engineering, I am able to find solutions to problems that will better the lives of others. I can apply engineering to almost any field of interest, and the versatility of what projects I may one day work on is very exciting to me. I aspire to take my ideas and turn them into functional designs throughout my career. I am also a very hard worker, so I hope to serve as an example for others. Success is always possible through persistent dedication and interest.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: Going into college, I always knew I wanted to study abroad. Summer of 2019, I will be going to Greece to study engineering of their Ancient civilization. Through this trip, I will visit iconic engineering sites, explore various methods used for their construction, analyze why they were built, and why some were abandoned. Additionally, I will experience how modern Greece has been influenced by historical events. I am very excited for this trip because it will be my first time leaving the country for a reason other than visiting family.
Original Inquiry: Going into my junior year, I am looking into getting involved in research that correlates with Mechanical Engineering. I think it would be cool to apply what I am learning to a specific project that is breaking new ground and moving forward. Additionally, research is something you can chose to do, rather than classes which are requirements. I want to set goals and put energy into a something aside from my coursework.
Academic Enrichment: This summer I will be interning at Vertiv in Columbus, OH. Here, I will work on a team that specializes in heat management of large data systems. Spring semester of 2019, I will be co-oping with Toyota in Ann Arbor, OH. Here, I will specialize in the R&D process side of the automotive industry. Specifically, I will be working on side-end crash and safety testing of vehicles.
Leadership Development: I chose to join the Mount Leadership Society scholars program so that I could develop my leadership skills, and then have them to then apply for any future roles in society. During my first year in the program, I took it one step further by running for Team Captain during Legacy Week. With this role, I was able to have a more involved input throughout the entire process. Learning how to communicate and facilitate ideas with a large team helped me grow as a leader.
Service Engagement: This year, I have been involved in a year-long service commitment as a tutor for the Northern Lights Library Homework Help Center in Columbus, OH. Through this opportunity, I have grown a lot personally, while being able to give back to my community at the same time. It is one of the most influential experiences thus far in my life, and has taught me about education inequality and how much harder some people have to work to get to places I once took for granted.
Career
During my time at Ohio State so far, I have become involved in a few organizations. I am a Mount Leadership Society Scholar. Through this program, I have been volunteering at the Northern Lights Library Homework Help Center in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, I have been given many opportunities to interact with local leaders, engage in conversations about prominent social issues, and develop my leadership skills through self-exploration and teamwork. During my first year, I served as a Captain for Team Environment during Legacy Week, which is a two-week long period of service via team-developed projects with local Columbus agencies. My team consisted of about 30 members. We created project ideas, contacted agencies, followed a schedule, budgeted items, and executed three projects with our own volunteers.
I am also a member of the OSU chapter of Society of Women Engineers. Through this organization, I get the opportunity to interact with other females in my major. Additionally, I am presented with many events where I can network, learn from individuals already in industry, and set standards for what I personally should strive for when meeting my own goals.
This summer, I will be interning with Vertiv in Columbus, Ohio. Spring 2019, I will be co-oping with Toyota in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Link to resume: ManjotKalkat_Resume-1eyrbmh
Artifacts
This semester, I am enrolled in a class called Intro to ME Design. This course is split into two main portions. In the first half, I learned how microcontrollers are used in electromechanics, and specifically worked with an Arduino Uno. At the end of this portion of the class, we were given a very open-ended project where we were to build something useful that was controlled by an Arduino. I chose to build an alarm clock that requires motion of the user to turn it off. This is different than an ordinary alarm clock which can be easily snoozed. I built the actual prototype and wrote the entire code independently. This was the first project in which I coded a program on my own, and I’ve never learned more from a project. It was rewarding to finish with a physical prototype that worked at the end.