Chris Aring - Olin College

I have spent the last year living in California working remotely for Ginkgo Bioworks. I was promoted to Junior Systems Analyst, and began designing systems to help keep track of internal data within our biosecurity team. I have enjoyed my time at Ginkgo and will continue working for them while I begin my pre-med post-baccalaureate program at San Francisco State University. The program starts at the end of January and I will be done with the required coursework in 1-2 years. My next steps would be to take the MCAT and apply to medical school.

The work I do at Ginkgo is health related, but my focus has been on the more technical side of things. As I progress through the post-baccalaureate program I will have the opportunity to shadow physicians at Stanford University Medical Center and/or nearby hospitals. I may continue to work with Ginkgo part time to help fund my continuing education but would prefer to find payed opportunities in the medical field. I am fortunate to have gained many useful skills during my time at Olin College of Engineering that will help me tremendously in the medical field. I wanted to thank my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth for the continued support. I continue to use the knowledge I gained at college to push my life and career forward.

Chris Aring - Olin College

This past year has been one of many changes for me. In September, I moved to California and started work as a Program Coordinator for Ginkgo Bioworks. The move, the new job, and the new experiences have led me to think more deeply about what I find fulfilling.

Working at Ginkgo has been amazing for me. I manage day-to-day courier network operations for pooled SARS-CoV-2 testing to protect the health of students, educators, and families nationwide. Being able to make a direct positive impact on others has filled me with new excitement and drive. I continue my work at Ginkgo to improve logistics operations.

My focus has shifted a bit in the last few months. I will be attending a pre-med post-baccalaureate program this summer or fall to fulfill the basic science requirements needed to attend medical school. My goal is to apply my background and experience to positively impact individuals' health and well-being. I am fortunate to have gained many useful skills through my engineering education. I want to use this knowledge to advance innovations in healthcare long-term.

I want to thank my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth for supporting me through my undergraduate studies at Olin College. I continue to use the experience gained at college to push my life and career forward.

Chris Aring - Olin College

Olin College was one of the first colleges to close down at the start of the pandemic. In early March we held our “fauxmencement” where my classmates and I wore a mixture of real robes, robes crafted from trash bags, and origami hats to celebrate -- in as normal a fashion as we could -- our departure from Olin. It was not the graduation experience I was expecting but was somehow more ‘Olin’. I successfully completed my degree receiving a bachelor of science in electrical and computer engineering and headed home to the Vineyard for the summer along with two college friends. I am fortunate and privileged to call the Vineyard home as I was able to socially distance with friends, walk trails, and walk beaches safely. While continuing to live on the Vineyard working as a property manager, I have expanded my interest in music production and painting. My long time middle-school friend and I are working to create an album we hope to release soon. I wanted to thank my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth for supporting me through my undergraduate studies at Olin College. I gained many experiences that will continue to help me move forward in my life and career.

Chris Aring - Olin College

This past semester marked the beginning of my senior year at the Olin College of Engineering. With most of my major requirements completed, I was able to focus on more extracurricular activities. I took a few spontaneous trips around the country with friends, continued work on an entrepreneurial venture, and began work on a year-long senior capstone project. One main reason for my excitement when starting this final fall semester, was the opportunity to work on a project as a part of our school’s senior capstone program in engineering (SCOPE). The program allows seniors to work with a multidisciplinary team throughout both semesters of senior year to provide innovative solutions to a company’s real-world projects. I am working with a team of four with Toyota to redesign and improve the personal mobility experience for people with ambulatory disabilities. I was chosen by my team to be the product owner for the entire year, which makes me primarily responsible for keeping track of the big picture of the project and thinking ahead to where the team needs to get to. I also take point on interactions with the company liaison. This opportunity has allowed me to grow my management skills and engage with real world work in a hands-on way. During my upcoming, final undergrad semester, I will complete my Electrical and Computer Engineering degree, continue work as the product owner for my SCOPE team, and explore new opportunities–ones I could never have imagined myself having if I did not end up going to Olin College of Engineering through the support of my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth.

Chris Aring - Olin College

From working on a business idea with help from professors, student teaching at Newton North High School, and teaming up to create a budgeting app for young adults, this past semester at Olin College of Engineering has pushed me to expand my interests and broaden my knowledge into new fields.

In one of my favorite classes to date, “User Experience Design,” I worked with a team to design and build an app to help young adults establish positive budgeting habits. This class allowed me to design for complex engineering problems with a direct, people-oriented goal. My team had to find a group of individuals for whom we could design a product, track the product’s development, and collect data in real time to determine how well the product of our engineering research was working. The activity was an incredible opportunity - one of many I have received through Olin’s design-based courses.

In addition to various engineering projects, my student teaching experience through a class at Wellesley College has allowed me to work alongside a mentor teacher to observe classes, teach lessons and engage with students.

During my upcoming, final semester of junior year, I plan on finishing the requirements for my Electrical and Computer Engineering degree, refining my business plan, and continuing to explore new opportunities - ones I could never have imagined myself having if I did not end up being able to go to Olin College of Engineering through the support of my community, friends, family, and the generosity of MVYouth.

Chris Aring - Olin College

During my most recent semester at Olin, I chose my major, built a piano playing robot, designed my own computer processor, and explored more interests. While I've decided to major in electrical and computer engineering, I plan to take education courses at Wellesley College. Since many of the classes at my school combine ideas from multiple disciplines and count for more than one major, I took two computer science classes this semester. By working in project teams with students and teachers, I had additional opportunities to experience what it means not only to fulfill the objective of a project, but to learn to teach others in my group and the entire class the material I knew. In a sense, the project groups are themselves mini-classrooms where my interest in education has grown. In one class, I worked as part of a team during a three month span to create a piano playing robot. Our grade was not based on how functional the final product was, but rather on our documentation, check-in reports, and final product website. This last semester has been one of growth. I learned how to work on large, lengthy projects with a team, how to communicate and research to set myself up to be the first student from my college to go through Wellesley College’s education program, and finally, how to take the next step. Thanks to the support of MVYouth, I have been able to grow and learn in innovative and curious ways.

Chris Aring - Olin College

My first semester at Olin College of Engineering has been one of the more life changing experiences in my life. All of my assignments were based on team projects and team building exercises which helped make me a better team player and more aware of how other people work. I think it is important to work on projects with groups and not individually because the real world is not about isolation and solo work; the real world is about working with others, sharing ideas, and making connections. I have already met and worked with students who have worked for various companies like Google, Microsoft, SpaceX, and many more. Many of these students are only sophomores and got their job offers from the career fair here each semester. At the career fair, companies show up and students get to walk around and meet with actual engineers from each company. I met with a few businesses and ended up being asked by the members at the Boston Scientific booth to apply for a Co-Op or internship. I decided to hold off on the offer because I wanted to get my first year under my belt before taking a semester long break. It was a great experience that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else. Being given the opportunity as a first year student to talk with head engineers from Microsoft, Google and other companies is something I don't think many kids get at other schools and it motivates me to work even harder.