Akanksha Rawat '24 Balances Busy Schedule to Cultivate a Better Environment for Engineers

Akanksha Rawat '24 is a third-year electrical engineering major from Mobile, Alabama. She serves as a College of Engineering Peer Advisor, an Engineering Ambassador and leader on the board of both the Club of Future Female Electrical Engineers, or COFFEE, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, at UC Davis.

Though she is busy with these obligations, she uses them to create a supportive environment for other engineering majors to "make everyone feel involved."

As a board member for COFFEE and IEEE, she strives to create social gatherings outside of the classroom setting, especially since she considers engineering a time-consuming major. Having fun and relieving stress for other engineering students is important to her.

In terms of balancing her own busy schedule, Rawat works hard all throughout the day, studying even between classes. She finds that dedicating a day in the week to have a light load makes it easier for her to catch up on her work and stay up to date with all her responsibilities.

"Engineering is just a discipline," she said. "It is not something so unapproachable. It is a major that creates a mindset for you to excel at surviving life."

Rawat's favorite course she has taken so far is EEC 010 — Introduction to Digital & Analog Systems. She believes it solidified her interest in engineering applications as it was the first class she felt like a hands-on electrical engineer with all the different tools the ECE department labs provided her, such as oscilloscopes, signal generators and multimeters.

Overall, Rawat's experience at the College of Engineering has been "fruitful." Through her professors and peers, she has found her passion for engineering.

"The College of Engineering has not only provided great opportunities for me to connect with industry professionals but also with peers who are encouraging and supportive," she said. "I have finally found a community of people I can lean on for support and provide me opportunities to advance my career and myself."