ECE Student Spotlight: Jeff Hensal
Fortunately for third-year ECE student, Jeff Hensal, he was convinced relatively quickly to attend The Ohio State University and pursue engineering, a decision he is proud of and one that allows him to succeed both in the classroom and outside in his various other involvements.
As the President of the Electronics Club at Ohio State, Hensal helps his peers get hands-on experience outside of the classroom with real world implications.
He also shed some light about his experience in the electrical engineering department, his involvement with the club, and what he does to stay sane in the chaos of college.
Where are you from originally? What made you want to come to OSU?
I’m from a small town near Akron called Canal Fulton. My stepfather went to Ohio State for 8 years to get his dentistry degree. He told me all about it and kind of introduced me to it. I was never really thinking about it until the beginning of my senior year. My sisters came to Ohio State and I came to visit them a couple times. I really liked the campus. It is a lot different from a small town. I was attracted to the bigger area.
Did you know that you wanted to go into engineering, ECE specifically?
I did not, until my senior year when I took physics for the first time and I really opened up to all the things engineers could do through physics. I was really interested specifically in the study of electronics and circuits. I played video games all my life and use a lot of electronics, like phones, and it was intriguing to me how these things were designed and put together. Physics bridged the gap between the things I use all the time and my strengths in math and science.
How did you become involved in the Electronics Club and what are some things that you do?
Shortly after my freshmen year ended, I joined the Electronics Club as a new member. There were a lot of upperclassmen in there who had a lot of experience. Just hanging around in the club room and going to the meetings got me more hands-on experience with electronics. When fall semester came during my sophomore year, that’s when I started taking a leadership role in the Electronics Club as the Engineering Council Representative. As the next semester came around and they were looking for officers, I just applied to be president because I was really inspired by the former president. He was a really good teacher and he really knew electronics. I sought to be more like that. By taking the role of president of the club, it has really allowed me to gain that experience. A lot of things we do are hands-on workshops. We work a lot with microcontrollers. They are pretty standard for electrical engineers. I have just now been formally introduced to them in coursework, but as a member of the club I was introduced to them even before my coursework. We build circuits that can do different things, like light up LEDs and power up motors or do some type of control. We did a workshop with analog. We built a line-detecting circuit, which is basically the technology behind barcode scanners.
What do you see yourself doing after your undergraduate degree?
I plan to pursue a master's degree in Electrical Engineering at Ohio State. After, I see myself in some type of analog design engineering position at a large company like Texas Instruments or General Electric. I hope to take on leadership roles such as a project manager for different projects that may stem from customer requests.
What do you like to do to relax and have fun?
I am extremely interested in music. In between long periods of studying, I will pick up my guitar and play for half an hour to an hour at a time. I am just now picking up producing some types of music on the computer. I am also am in a fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. I felt like a lot of my involvements in college were all work. I felt like I needed to have some social aspect to my college career. We do a lot of philanthropy and service events, and brotherhood events. I also like to skateboard.
What advice would you give to incoming engineering students?
There’s a lot of uncertainty going into freshman year. You don’t really know what you want to do. I would say keep an open mind. Get involved outside of classes. Join a few clubs- join things that you might be interested in for your profession. Explore everything Ohio State has to offer, because there is a lot more than you would think. Keep a good physical activity schedule. It clears your head, and personally for me, it helps me focus when I am studying.
Article by ECE Student Public Relations Writer Stephanie Wise