Growing up in a rural Indian setting, the common belief was that the most

prestigious jobs were either becoming a doctor or becoming a computer

programmer. However, after being exposed to the potential of engineering and how
it will shape the future through education in America, it seems inappropriate to only
acknowledge Information Technology out of all the fascinating and important
branches of engineering. Hello, my name is Tarun Sunkaraneni and I am striving to
make an advancement in the world through research in engineering. Attending
schools in a country where competition for jobs are high, Indian education pushed
me to learn science and math at an accelerated rate as compared to education in
America. Even though this meant I had little focus on electives as a child, all that
effort was instead put into becoming more proficient in math and science. I believe
that it is because of this type of learning I love research and want to use my skills in
engineering.
The first real serious and advanced engineering project I was involved in was
as a freshman when I joined the school FRC robotics team. Learning science and
math seemed easy, but application of those subjects through engineering was very
mind boggling and left me dumbfounded frequently. As I started getting more and
more experience in electrical, mechanical, and programming aspects of creating
even the simplest robot, however, making a robot felt more like a puzzle and a
recreational activity than something my parents had made forced me to participate
in. Working for the robotics team for 4 years, I am now one of the elite members of
the team and it truly feels remarkable being a mentor of freshmen who feel the
same way as I felt many years ago.
I worked at an Internship at the University of Utah Department of Chemical
Engineering with Professor Anthony Butterfield, through which I participated in a lot

of research dealing with laser cutting, 3-D printing, projects with Algae, reactions,
and creating mechanisms and experimental equipment. During the summer of
2015, a peer and I worked for almost 300 hours trying to build a cost effective
microfluidic pump using nothing but laser cut parts. After so much research and
crossing so many challenges and complications, we were able to create a
functioning pump and the project was even debuted at a national Chemical
Engineering convention. Through this experience, I built on my confidence in myself
and also patience in my work. The whole process was very long and we had to go
through more than 150 examples before developing working microfluidics channels.
Within all of our trials we had to change the design about 40 times to get the
correct design. I feel like the whole process really spoke about my patience to do
work and problem solving skills.
Chemical Engineering is very special because it is arguably the most diverse
branch of engineering: chemical engineers have to apply knowledge of Biology,
Chemistry and Physics, materials science, and even information technology.
Chemical engineers also have to understand economics, safety and the
environment. This field is very diverse and promises to solve many of the worlds
problems. I want to continue research in the field and work in a job that changes
and is a new experience every day, while also benefitting the world.