Not Your Ordinary Team: Take 2

Here is take 2 of the meet the team series.

Nicole R.

Major: Civil Engineering

Class Standing: Graduated

Five Things: Chaco sandals, camera, chapstick, journal, pen

Nicole is a recent graduate of the Civil Engineering program. Very recently (YESTERDAY), she married her long time sweetheart. Congratulations Nicole and Brehnan! Nicole, you looked gorgeous, and Brehnan looked positively dapper.

Nicole is one of the visible spokespersons for the team, making presentations and answering questions at various venues.  She wanted to do the Ghana project because, “I wanted to apply engineering principles in a way that will help people. I wanted to solve real, dire problems.”

She’s not looking forward to haggling in the markets while in Ghana, “I can’t do it, I won’t do it….there’s just a brick wall in my brain about it.” But she is looking forward to being “unplugged” for a few weeks, from the internet and her phone. She's going to dream of salads and fresh fruit while eating rice and fried plantains, but hopefully has packed enough comfort foods to get her through. 

The furthest Nicole has been from home is Bonn, Germany. She says she’ll miss her cat Cricket, and of course her family.

Something Fun: Nicole’s favorite color is Green, or blue. Purple sometimes. Mostly Green. Her favorite Sesame Street character is Oscar because “he’s the only one who knows what’s up.”

Maria

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Class Standing: Graduated (3^rd year senior)

Five Things: Glasses (so I can see), camera, journal, soap (it’s practical), and a copy of both design reports so I can build the project. (Is that cheating? I made up the questions so I guess I can bend the rules).

Maria is a graduating Mechanical Engineering student and the co-captain of the project. (I will admit it’s weird to talk about myself in 3^rd person, but we’ll go with it). She chose the Ghana project for senior design because “it is a service project, what we do, and what we build impacts lives directly.”

She says that she will miss her dog Lady every morning because “she’s always happy to see me. It’s a mood booster every day.” She won’t miss having to decide what to wear every morning.

She’s not apprehensive about not having her cell phone, “It’s nice to drop off the grid every now and then.” Maria is going to dream about big fat juicy hamburgers, while eating her fried plantains.

“I’m hoping to take some amazing photos while I’m in country. I want to leave space in my journal to paste photos in when I get back.”

Something Fun: Maria’s favorite color is green. Her favorite Sesame Street Character is Grover, “Neeeearrrrr………Faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr……………..Neeeeeeeeeeeeaarrrrrrrrrrrr”