ECE alum Yemaya Bordain urges new students to be curious
8/22/2016
Who is better to give advice to freshmen and incoming transfer students than a recent graduate? Yemaya Bordain (PhD '15) spoke at ECE Ignition and encouraged attendees to get involved, especially with research.
She emphasized the incredible research happening and Illinois and how undergraduate students can play an important part. "You can knock on any of their doors and ask what they're working on," she said.
She is also passionate about encouraging diversity in engineering. While at Illinois, she co-founded the Graduate Engineers Diversifying Illinois (GEDI) student organization.
ECE ILLINOIS Department Head William H Sanders concurred. In his opening remarks at Ignition, he emphasized the importance of diversity among students and professors. He explained that while the incoming class had many commonalities, including being about the same age and academically successful, their differences create unique opportunities for collaboration and learning.