Krista Ricupero
Future City 1999
Powder Mill Middle School
Southwick, Massachusetts

EDUCATION: B.Sci., civil engineering, University of Maine, Orono

CURRENTLY: Graduate student, University of Maine Department of Civil And Environmental Engineering.  Research on hydrology data for water allocation along Penobscot River.

I am a graduate student at the University of Maine's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  My research centers on the types of hydrology data needed by the state government in order to ensure equitable water allocation along Maine's Penobscot River.  This project's combination of engineering, modeling, and policy has me excited.  Ever since Future City, the importance of engineers' cognizance of the human dimension of engineering (where our work intersects with the public and the environment) has captured my attention.

Frequently, my undergraduate coursework in engineering seemed lacking in the human dimension, even when I took classes about environmental chemistry, which we are obviously interested in because of the effects of water pollution on ourselves and our world.  Perhaps some teachers find it difficult to include the bigger picture in already full curricula.  Others may simply view issues outside learning to design competently as peripheral.  My understanding has always been that good engineering is central to a society's health, and that the best engineering serves those whose voices may not otherwise be heard.  In graduate school and in the professional world, I am starting to see that my perspective on this issue is an essential one to have, and so I would like to offer some words of encouragement to others who may share my feelings while completing their undergraduate work.

There are high school students and undergraduates who will feel discouraged at the seeming disconnect between technically-focused engineering studies and society: I want you to know that you are not alone and that your pursuit of an engineering degree is worth the work you are putting into it.  The professional world and society will place a high value on your socially conscious engineering, because your work will improve their lives.  In the meantime, take classes in policy, law, sociology, and minorities studies whenever you can fit them in.  Get a minor in one of these areas if you can.  Go to engineering conferences and plan on going to graduate school.  All of these things will help keep you sane in what may otherwise seem a sea of problem sets, Excel sheets, and differential equations.  Good luck!