Speeding down a new path: Meet Julia Cline

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Julia Cline isn’t afraid to do something new, from reinventing her career and pursuing a degree in electrical and computer engineering, to joining Ohio State’s electric motorcycle race team as a novice engineer.

“I grew up in Columbus and Ohio State was always in my big back yard, but I’m a nontraditional student,” said Cline. “I started my career in music education, then in arts management, and I decided that I wanted more of a challenge.”

Ultimately, she found that challenge in the field of electrical and computer engineering, specifically in the department’s computer engineering program of study.

“The computer engineering track in the ECE program is a nice mix, for me, of the computer programming languages, computer hardware, as well as the electronics behind all of that,” Cline explained.

During the middle of her freshmen year at Ohio State, Cline decided she wanted to get involved with a project that would utilize her growing technical skills. Impressed by the variety of student organizations and project teams available at the university, she choose to join the newly formed student project team Buckeye Current, the electric motorcycle racing team.

“When I first started with Buckeye Current, I didn’t really have anything that I knew how to do. The senior and the team lead at the time said, ‘That’s okay, we’ll take anybody and we’ll train you,’” Cline said. “So I started with basic soldering and learning a little bit about circuit design and soon was pretty in depth with the microcontrollers for the startup of the bike.”

Now in her third year at Ohio State, Cline is the administrative team lead for Buckeye Current and works hand-in-hand with the technical team lead to build the team’s second electric bike in two years. In this role she helps keep the team on track, including managing sub-team leaders, facilitating meetings and handling administrative duties. She also works on the electrical components of the motorcycle.

In February 2013, Cline received the Arcelor Mittal Leadership Award for her service to Buckeye Current and was honored at the Ohio State Women in Engineering banquet.  

Juggling classes, a leadership role in Buckeye Current, and an internship at an automotive company keeps Cline very busy. Tackling multiple roles has also helped her realize which areas of the field interest her most.

“I think the more you do, the more you can really figure out what your focus areas and interests are and prioritize those,” she said.

View ECE’s latest student video to find out more about Julia Cline.

For more information about Buckeye Current and how to get involved, visit www.current.osu.edu.

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Category: Students