Jair Burgos is a Senior studying Chemical Engineering here at the University of south Florida. The reason for him choosing this major stems from him being very into the STEM programs at school excelling at Math, Physics and Chemistry. He Attended Junior College and received his associates degree in Math, Physics and Chemistry. Growing up throughout his life he was always surrounded by the STEM fields, and with a brother that was also in the engineering field he says, “He inspired me to go into engineering and through him I saw how much fun it is and how hands on it is and how solving real world problems with some really cool solutions…because of that I knew I wanted to do engineering.” He tells a little about why he decided to major in specifically Chemical Engineering, by saying that he was very into Chemistry and felt that, that was the right career choice for him. He enjoys being in the Chemical engineering fields because he likes going through the process or in his word the “puzzle.”
He is currently the Concrete Canoe Club Captain for the American Society of Civil Engineers. He says that, “Although it is outside my Chemical engineering field I really fell in love with the whole project of the design aspect, of designing a canoe and to actually building it that really caught my attention and really made me fall in love with the project.” He’s been involved with the club now for three years and this is his third canoe that he is involved with building, but this time around he is the captain. He has to manage everything that is being done and make sure that they are able to meet their deadlines when they attend their conference where they will be presenting their canoe, make an oral presentation and then at the end race it against other Universities.
He hopes to mix his Chemical Engineering background with the exposure of Civil Engineering field and continue his education here at USF and obtain his Masters Degree.
Lizbeth Gutierrez 