ECE Student Spotlight: Geet Tripathi

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Geet Tripathi, ECE student
Despite being thrust into the unknown world of American college applications right after his move from India to the United States, Geet Tripathi found a new home waiting in Ohio.

The fourth-year Humanitarian Engineering scholar describes a journey that has taken him from across the ocean, through different engineering disciplines, finally arriving in The Ohio State University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program.

How did you end up at Ohio State?

I'm originally from Mumbai, India, and moved to Cincinnati right before my senior year of high school at Sycamore High. I took my SATs and ACTs within a week of getting here and had no idea what the actual process was for college admissions until October. Within a few months of residing here, I fell in love with the state and the people. As an extrovert, I wanted to experience a big school. Ohio State was the only school I had visited before applying, so I went with my guts. The past three years have been the most memorable and vital years of my life.

How did you get into engineering, specifically electrical engineering?

My father is a chemical engineer, which I believe played a major role in determining my passion. I built a car engine at the age of 11 and have a knack for fixing electrical equipment. That is the main reason I worked with FIRST Lakota Robotics in Cincinnati. I also was an avid roller-skater simply because I liked the mechanism of the wheels. I find that everything I look at and observe in the world is somehow connected by engineering. 

I came into Ohio State as a Computer Science and Engineering pre-major. Within a semester, I felt that I had a great grip on the software side of engineering and wanted to try hardware. With some interests in Aerospace Engineering, I switched my pre-major to that. A year later, I realized I was just interested in the electrical aspect of space designs. I then switched to ECE. As soon as I joined the major, I started loving what I studied. I could relate the theoretical concepts to real-life examples, and that was the most satisfying feeling. I have cherished this decision of mine ever since.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I volunteer at the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State and the Bridge Institution in Columbus as a tutor for refugee children in high school. I am heavily involved with Design for 90, too. I co-founded the student organization three years ago and we now have about 40-45 members. Members work to design and engineer products for the underprivileged in Columbus. Other than that, I’m conducting research on Secondary Electron Emissions with the University of Cincinnati. With Ohio State, I previously researched the designing of plasma actuators for various types of aeroplane wings and interned with the Department of Biomedical Engineering International Summer Design Experience. I also enjoy participating in hackathons. In fact, my team won the OHI/O ESRI challenge in 2015.

What are your plans after you graduate?

I plan to obtain a PhD in electrical engineering, specifically in nanotechnology. I want to work on biological tissue regeneration using nanotechnology to help amputees. I want to be heavily involved in research and plan to go to grad school after undergrad. Though I do want to work in the industry for a while to get a sense of that part of the world.

Article by ECE Student Public Relations Writer, Ravleen Kaur