Student Spotlight: Li Wright

What makes Washington State University’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture stand out from the crowd for those looking to get a degree?

We ask civil engineering major Li Wright for her thoughts on what makes WSU such a special place.

Q: What have you learned during your time at WSU,that will help you most in your future?

A: I have learned a ton from internship and research experiences during my time at WSU and was able to apply ArcGIS and excel coursework to real world problems such as mapping sewer systems and transportation routes, fuse sizing on the electric distribution grid, and verifying operating pressures for natural gas systems.

Overall, I think college teaches a lot of soft skills – how to effectively manage time and deadlines, how to approach a large project and break it into manageable parts, how to learn software on the job and apply it to an assigned task, and how to ask for help when you need it while balancing that with self-directed research. These skills can be applied to a variety of jobs/industries.

I think the pandemic has changed the education system a lot and I’m really proud of how the WSU’s civil engineering faculty was able to engage with students virtually and host live classes/office hours. I also worked remotely during this the pandemic and participated in remote environmental competitions. It’s nice to know that WSU can prepare you to be successful even through uncertain times with new technologies and working environments.

Q: What made you decide to attend WSU? Why did you choose your major?

A: I chose WSU because of the research opportunities and generous financial support that would help make higher education affordable for me. I chose Civil Engineering because I was interested in city planning, environmental remediation, and wastewater treatment. It is a nice mix of mathematics, fluids, heat transfer, life sciences, statistics, and real-world applications.

Q: Why would you recommend attending Washington State University? How have you benefitted by attending WSU?

A: I was able to get more individualized support and develop relationships with my peers and professors. If you show up and put the time in, everyone is willing to go above and beyond to help you be successful. It is a very collaborative environment, which is important especially doing the pandemic because if one of us missed a class from illness or personal reasons, we could always ask each other for notes and support.

Q: What advice do you have for fellow or prospective students? What can you recommend they do to succeed in your major or at WSU?

A: Choose something you are passionate about because there will be times you work on a project for 10+ hours and it helps if it is something you are interested in.

Go to office hours and tutoring centers – 15 minutes with a professor can save you 3 hours of work on your own.

If you work during school and can’t make it to office hours, don’t be afraid to ask for professors for a quick zoom meeting/homework guidance. They will see you are trying and be willing to help you.

Join study groups and make friends! Lastly, you don’t have to make everything about school – you can find balance through clubs outside your major/fitness classes/fun activities, etc.

Q: What has been your favorite program that you’ve been involved with at WSU?

A: I’ve really enjoyed the Air and Waste Management competition. This club is one of the few activities aimed for environmental engineers and scientists which has a different focus than traditional civil engineering clubs.

Every year, we get to address challenges ranging from climate change, water resources and management, environmental contaminant remediation, etc. You examine the problem from multiple different perspectives: the community, ecosystem, economic sectors, outreach, and education, etc. Then you draft a proposal and present it to mock advisory boards for the fictitious city with the goal of arguing why your development plan is the best option.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to mention about your experience at WSU?

A: A lot of civil engineering students go into industry, but there are also research opportunities at WSU which allow you to dig deeper into a specific topic that you are interested in. This is something I was really excited to explore, and I got the chance to get paid to have fun with expensive toys.

Some examples could be with geotechnical topics or microbiology and DNA transport (my favorite). Other areas that my friends have experience with are biofuels, air quality modeling, hydrology, and innovative building materials.