Stuart Pearson is a senior in electrical engineering and concurrent grad student, a peer mentor in Electrical, Computer and Software Engineers as Leaders (ECSEL) and a teaching assistant for EE 201 and EE 351. This summer Pearson will be interning for SpaceX’s Starship program and then returning to Iowa State this fall finish his master’s degree in electrical engineering.
I started school in fall 2019 and even when taking COVID precautions, ECSEL was great in providing a group of people that are all within my academic area of study. Especially juniors and seniors that I could ask advice about classes and future jobs – building real connections and mentorships.
Now, I am a peer mentor through ECSEL, hold office hours, and help students plan their classes, professional development. I wanted to be a peer mentor to give back to the group that helped me when I was starting out in electrical engineering.
Last semester was my first semester being a TA. I found myself a little more time on my hands, and being a teacher’s assistant was something I had always wanted to do. I just enjoy helping people learn new things. It was also a financial benefit for going to grad school here at Iowa State.
I originally wanted to go right into industry after undergrad work, but then the longer I have been here and the more I learn, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. So, I would like to go more in-depth into some of the things I have learned.
The two areas I am most interested in right now are energy systems and semiconductors. Broadly speaking, I want to use my career to develop renewable energy to hopefully mitigate the negative effects of climate change moving forward.