Coppell High School senior Suprita Ashok participated in programs for NASA in Houston and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York last summer. She is involved in engineering at CHS and hopes to pursue electrical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or Texas A&M.

What about engineering do you find interesting?

The part that appeals to me is where the world is going. A new way of living is coming up because of technology, and we are on the forefront of that. Everything is becoming technologized, and we are on this new frontier. So, to be an engineer right now – you are the one pushing through and are going to change the lives of generations of humans.

What qualities do you feel that you exhibit that are suited to becoming an engineer? 

I wouldn’t say there are any characteristics [in particular]. If there is something, I’m always ready and willing to learn.

What happened at NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and at The Cooper Union programs that you did not expect?

At Houston, we were separated into teams Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Basically, you only talked to the people in your [team] because you have so much work to do and you work all day. We had people cry from all the assignments, but it brought us together. Through this experience, I never thought I would meet people who were just like me. After just five days of meeting people, when we were going back home, people were in tears; I have never seen that happen, and I’ve never felt that way before.

At Cooper Union, I honestly never thought I would get my hands on a soldering iron at this age and actually weld electronics together. [I learned] so much about what I want to do in the future. I was mentored by [teaching assistants] in electrical engineering, [who] told me everything I needed to know about college and electrical engineering. I am a lot more passionate about [engineering] now.

You also currently teach math and reading to kids under age 9 at Kumon. What has that taught you? 

Patience and responsibility. Before [teaching], I never thought anything I could do could be taken seriously because here at school teachers are here for you [so that you can learn]. But, when you work, you are finally here for someone else. Someone else depends on you rather than you depending on somebody else. That sense of responsibility really drives me.

What legacy do you hope to leave on the world as an engineer? 

I have a dream that I can make the world better. I can learn something and practice something only to make the world better. Think about the iPhone – it’s just one simple innovation by one creative [company] who happened to make millions of people’s lives better- [Apple] totally disrupted the market. I would love to do something like that, to create technology or improve technology to change the game.” 

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