Ana Cecilia Jurado is an undergraduate student at Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) majoring in mechanical engineering. It has been her lifelong dream to become an engineer. As a junior at CPP, she is two years away from making that dream come true. She is excited about what the future holds for her and can't wait to embark on her new professional career. Until then, she remains focused, driven, and will tunnel vision her way to graduation day.
Ana looks back at her life with great joy. She has always had a supportive family who encouraged her pursuit of her academic and professional goals. Ana comes from a humble home lifestyle. She migrated with her parents, Cecilia Estrada and Miguel Jurado, and her sister, Sofia, to the United States, from Guatemala when she was nine years old. Life as an immigrant had its ups and downs. She had a new culture and language to adapt to. She struggled but overcame those obstacles. Her world was not full of material things. She describes her family home as a happy and loving place; a home in which her parents provided emotional, financial, and educational support she and her sister needed. She is grateful to her parents because they sacrificed their own educational goals in Guatemala to migrate to the US so their children could live the "American Dream."
Ana's parents strongly believed in education and wanted her to dream big and be passionate about learning. They wanted her to dive into her studies with passion and purpose. Ana did just that. In school, she tried to absorb everything and felt naturally drawn to the sciences. She was inspired and immediately felt a connection with her science lessons. She felt that science helped her understand the world she lived in and felt that understanding the world from a scientific perspective could help her solve some of the world's issues.
At St. Therese Elementary School, she had a very impactful and significant moment that propelled her to become an undergraduate mechanical engineering student at CPP. In the sixth grade, she read the book titled October Sky by Homer Hickam. This book is about determination and never giving up. It is a story about two boys who enjoyed building rockets. Even though they lived in a small mining town, they wanted to be engineers. This book resonated with her deeply. It inspired her and ignited a passion for engineering. She knew in the sixth grade that engineering was going to be the profession she would dive into for the rest of her life.
Shortly after completing this book, she wanted to be involved in as many engineering lessons and programs as her parents would allow. She attended the Summer Engineering Seminar at Santa Clara University, the C-STEM GIRL+ Camp at UC Davis, and the Berkeley Summer Experience Program. Participating in these programs fueled her inspiration to continue the path of pursuing a degree in the engineering field. She was determined to full fill her dream of becoming an engineer. As a senior in high school, she applied to multiple campuses within the University of California and the California State University system. When it came time to decide where to attend college, she decided CPP would be a great campus to call home. Selecting CPP was financially within her family's budget, and they had great engineering programs.
Being a student at CPP allowed Ana to dive into engineering in ways she only dreamed about when she was an elementary student. As a mechanical engineering student, she has had the opportunity to have great mentors such as Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud, Electromechanical Engineering Technology Professor within the College of Engineering. She has gained a lot of research and life skills from Dr. Khoshnoud's mentorship. As a result, Ana feels more confident in her academics and research. The most valuable experience she has had at CPP is the research experience that has allowed her to" learn by doing." Ana has participated in the CPP Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Conference (RSCA) and the Edison STEM-NET Student Research Symposium. She presented her research on solar fuel cells. She is looking forward to participating in student research events during her last two years at CPP.
After graduation, Ana hopes to go to graduate school and get a master's degree in engineering. After completing her master's program, she has many ideas about what professional industry she would like to work in. She is interested in many sectors, such as the clean energy field, whether in large-scale operations, automotive, or agriculture. She would also like to work with UAVs that use solar or fuel cells.
She also plans on applying for her Ph.D. after working in the private sector for a few years. Her goal is to become a professor and impact as many students as possible. She wants students to feel deeply impacted as she continues to be by her CPP professors. It is her way of paying forward all the positive impacts CPP had on her. When she retires, she sees herself living on a farm and returning to Guatemala, where she was born. She will do community engagement and activities to enhance and improve the communities.
Ana is living her dream and will have an engineering profession that fills her with purpose and passion. She thanks her parents and CPP for helping her pave her way to success.
Ana C. Jurado Contact Information:
Linkedin:
www.linkedin.com/in/ana-jurado-cpp/