The College of Engineering Student Stories

Meet Gurpreet

I chose UTA for several reasons: I wanted to major in software engineering, minor in something movie-related, be immersed in an ethnically diverse community, stay near home, and simply have fun in life. I am blessed to say that I've gotten all of these things and more here! As a high school senior, I also evaluated my options based on AP credit policies and scholarship offers, and UTA had the most impressive AP credit policy and the largest merit-based scholarship offer, showcasing that UTA recognizes its students' efforts. I also love being in the center of DFW.

After taking a class called Principles of Applied Engineering in seventh grade, I became obsessed with the engineering field and technology in general. I made a variety of creations in that class and gained so much practical experience while touching an extremely wide range of fields. I'd get so excited every time I stepped inside that engineering lab! My level of passion consistently kept growing all the way until my senior year of high school where I learned about laser engravers, new CAD software, and making a wooden pen from scratch! Another reason why I chose engineering was because my mom wanted me to :).

I knew I wanted to do engineering but wasn't sure which type. My mind was originally set on industrial engineering until COVID hit, and I had to temporarily transfer to a virtual high school for one year. I took AP Computer Science, and bam! I wanted to do software engineering. It felt so good when I wrote my first program and saw how my coding superpowers allowed me to make the computer print "chicken noodle soup" on the screen, and that was just the beginning. Another reason why I specifically chose software engineering was because there's so much flexibility with this career that I can go into almost any field or company and be marketable and get a job because software is used everywhere.

I am a member of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers and serve on its South Central Regional Conference Marketing Committee, which UTA is hosting. Last year, I was a junior officer, a full stack developer in one of the Research Interest Group teams and a photographer for the media team. During my freshman year, I was a frontend developer in one of the Research Interest Group teams and a mentee.

I want to be an engineering entrepreneur. I don't have all the details sorted out yet, but I would like to work for myself. Plan B is to get a software engineering job at a company like Google or Netflix. I have specialized interests in UX/UI design and mobile development.