GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ENGINEERING A

ALIYAH SMITH ’19, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HOMETOWN: RANDALLSTOWN, MARYLAND

Studying Around The World

When Aliyah Smith started at UMBC as a Meyerhoff Scholar, she knew right away that she wanted to study abroad. She also knew it would be tough to do if she wanted to graduate on time with her engineering major, but she believed it was critically important.

“As an engineering student and future engineer, I believe gaining a global perspective is imperative,” Aliyah says. “Most research groups are comprised of engineers from around the world. It is very important that I know how to collaborate with the people in these groups.”

Making The Pieces Fit

With help from her department and UMBC’s Education Abroad Office, she coordinated her degree plan to make all the pieces fit together. Thanks to their help, she was able to go abroad not once, but twice. First, with a nine-week mechanical engineering internship at the University of Oxford and again with a semester studying at American University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.

Mastering Problem Solving

Smith’s international experiences have also helped her grow in ways that apply to aspects of her life beyond academics. “At eighteen, I had to figure out how to travel from country to country and problem solve on my own, forcing me to be more outgoing and selfreliant,” she shares.