I am happy to share my experience of the Grand Challenge Scholars program with you, I hope you enjoy! My name is Raquel Camarena and I studied Industrial Engineering in Barrett, The Honors College.  I explored the Grand Challenge theme of Engineering the Tools of Scientific Discovery. I recently graduated with my Master's in May of 2017. I am continuing my education at ASU as I am in the Industrial Engineering 4+1 Program and plan to graduate with my Master's in May 2018.

I served as Vice President of the Grand Challenge Scholar Alliance organization. I am very proud and honored to be called a Grand Challenge Scholar. For this title, it means that I hold myself to a higher standard and to society. I have learned so much about myself and the world we live in, as I am able to look at engineering in these different perspectives from research, entrepreneurship work, interdisciplinary courses, global views, and the impact on younger individuals through my service learning experiences. I am able to view and tackle challenges the world faces in different views and apply not only my technical background knowledge, but also well-rounding encompassing knowledge.

As I plan to continue to further my education and pursue a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering, I believe that the involvement that I had in the Grand Challenge Scholars program will continue to help me as I will be able to continue to focus on my interests. The Grand Challenge Scholars Program has allowed me to study and research in different areas that I had never thought of if I was not in this program. I know in the future I want to positively impact individual's lives whether it be through national security, personal health, cyber security, sustainability, or even through the development of technological advancements. 

I decided to explore the area of Engineering the Tools of Scientific Discovery. I chose this particular area because I believe it has allowed me the most flexibility in exploring different topics and areas. Not only did this area allow me the flexibility to have different experiences, but I was drawn to how this theme could impact the aerospace sector. The possibilities within the aerospace sector were introduced to me  when I was a Aerospace Engineering student. Although, I am an Industrial Engineering student, I still will always be drawn to the aerospace sector. I successfully did my research as an intern for the ASU/NASA Space Grant program and I had the opportunity in the summer of 2016 to intern at Raytheon Missile Systems. The possibilities of what could be created for usage in space as well as the technological advances for our National Defense sector continues to intrigue me. In this theme, the eagerness to start from nothing in existence to something that could change humanity in a whole new, successful way is very enticing and exciting.