I attended Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science to complete my undergraduate degree. I obtained a Bachelor of Science, majoring in biomedical engineering with a focus on biomechanics and minoring in mechanical engineering.
Over the course of my four years of Columbia I grew immensely personally and professionally. I entered with very little idea of what I wanted to accomplish. I had some thoughts of pursuing medical school, but not with any strong focus. As I worked my way through my freshman and sophomore years, struggling with many of the pre-med courses, I realized that the most exciting course material for me was actually on the engineering side of medicine. I became more and more interested in mechanisms and devices, and developed an immense appreciation for the engineers who designed the devices our doctors use.
As I worked through my junior and senior years, I took more and more courses focused on biomechanics and realized that focusing only on biomedical engineering wouldn't enable me to successfully design medical devices. I began to incorporate mechanical engineering courses to supplement this goal. The final pivotal moment in my time at Columbia occurred in the first semester of my senior year, when I decided to take Classical Control Systems. This course opened my eyes to the idea of feedback control and planted a seed in my mind of one day developing "smart" medical devices capable of autonomous control.
These experiences culminated in an interesting senior capstone project which I've described here. The project incorporated mechanical modeling, design, and manufacture. It also gave me an opportunity to perform simple control of a motor.