EMMA MEEHAN
’20
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING MAJOR FROM READING, MASSACHUSETTS
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and understand the concepts,” she explains. “It is amazing to have this support system, especially when things get challenging.” (I can attest to this. After our interview ends, Emma—who is a year ahead of me—sends me a list of recommended classes and advice for our major.) On campus, Emma is involved in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, an executive board member of the Society of Women Engineers, and a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta. Last year she participated in the Tufts with Rwanda Fellowship, a year-long program centered on genocide education, which empowers participants to become global ambassadors for their communities. The program culminates with a trip to Rwanda during the summer. “I first learned about the Rwandan genocide in high school, and it was an event I wanted to understand more,” Emma says. “Seeing how the whole country came together to overcome such a recent trauma was a mind-blowing experience.” The highlight of her trip: the meals with residents of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village where the fellows stayed, during which they got to bond over music but also engaged in conversations about current issues in Rwanda. As Emma prepares to study abroad in Scotland next semester, she looks back at the past couple of years in the School of Engineering: “It is awesome to be at a place where you can have the academic rigor of engineering but also have the opportunity to explore different programs in the arts and sciences,” she says. “Being an engineer at Tufts is incredible.” —MARINA RUEDA GARCIA ’21
PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER
When I first meet Emma, I am struck by her enthusiasm and approachability, especially given the impressive array of activities she is involved in at Tufts. Emma is a junior studying chemical engineering, and as a chemical engineering student myself, I’m excited to get to talk to her. It was not until senior year of high school that, inspired by her AP Chemistry teacher, Emma decided to be an engineer. “Before that, I didn’t know much about engineering,” she confesses. When I ask her what engineering is to her now, she responds: “Engineering is the application of the math, physics, and science that you are learning to the improvement of people’s lives. Socially conscious engineering is witnessing what people need and acting on it: enhancing infrastructures in lowincome communities, or providing better processes for a lab that lacks funding.” Emma is passionate about biotechnology and genetic engineering, especially after interning at a small gene editing company in Kendall Square this summer, where she worked on gene therapy for blindness and autoimmune diseases. She is currently collaborating with Professor Nair in his synthetic biology lab. Her research focuses on fabricating plasmids that change the way in which proteins metabolize sugars. Emma’s experience at the School of Engineering so far has been empowering. The small class size has turned her major into a community. “You actually get to know the people in your classes, and the teachers know our names and want us to succeed
