Learn more about ENG 187: Global Engineering with Ella Tyler’22

The class had such an international focus and gave us the opportunity to work on a team project. It provided a very practical and applied experience.

Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself? 

I am a third-year studying IEOR with a minor in Public Policy and originally from Santa Cruz. I currently do research with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. In my free time, I enjoy camping and reading. A summer ago, I did a data science internship in Boulder, Colorado about energy use. This past summer, I was working on taking online classes and doing research about energy use. 

Why were you interested in taking the course ENG 187: Global Engineering: The Challenges of Globalization and Disruptive Innovation?

I was drawn to the fact that the class had such an international focus and gave us the opportunity to work on a team project. It was really interesting because we heard from so many speakers. I was impressed with some of the startup companies, like Impact coffee. I felt like they have a really unique way to make a positive social impact.

What project did you work on? What‘s your take away from the experience?

I was working with Tai-Ding Biotechnology. Tai-Ding Biotechnology is using data to help create analytics and recommendations for swine breeding. I thought it was interesting to call a lot of people around the country and ask questions about the startup. I talked to everyone from veterinarians to small farmers. I learned there is a lot of demand for analytics in the swine breeding field, a whole market that I previously hadn’t really realized existed.

I feel like some challenges we faced during the course are what our final goals were, deciding what we want for the final project, and deciding what the start-up was looking for. 

I think one thing I learned is how much you can learn from asking questions during the interview process.  It also was really interesting to learn more about entrepreneurship, business, and the start-up world in both Taiwan and the US.

What are your takeaways from the course? What are some impacts the course has left on you?

I would still say it would be helpful in interviewing people and helped me develop a better understanding of business and entrepreneurship. 

I think it helped me to better understand case studies, it prepared me to think about entrepreneurship and the different challenges that they face. I think it helps me have a much better understanding of companies from Taiwan coming to the U.S., I was introduced to the process of companies coming to the U.S.

Would you recommend it to other students?

Yes! I liked the course because I was exposed to people who are founding the startup and working with other students. I definitely recommend it to students who are learning about international business and entrepreneurship. This class is a smaller class compared to other similar courses on campus and we got to work on one big project on international business. Also, on the last day of class, we had our presentation and the Taiwanese style dinner together, that was pretty memorable!