Inspiring Conversations with Alexandra Jensen of Society of Women Engineers @ UCLA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Jensen.

Hi Alexandra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Hi! My name is Alexandra Jensen, but you can call me Lexi. I’m currently a third-year student at UCLA studying Bioengineering with a technical breadth in Product Design. Growing up, I loved creating and took every opportunity to go all out to draw, design, or build models for class projects. But I also had an intuition for math and science and was an avid problem solver, which led me to my current major and career path in engineering. 

As someone with a wide variety of interests, my heart hasn’t always been in my STEM-heavy curriculum, and I’ve doubted whether I am “meant to be” an engineer. But after getting involved in technical projects on campus and finding my community in the Society of Women Engineers @ UCLA, I proved to myself that my creativity and artistic eye make me a better communicator and more versatile as an engineer and teammate. 

I’m currently working to discover ways to incorporate design and creative fulfillment into my engineering career. I took the initiative to petition for my own technical breadth concentration in Product Design and have sought out opportunities to try graphic design, marketing, and computer-aided design to round out my knowledge of engineering and business needs. I’m interested in pursuing a multi-disciplinary career, such as human factors engineering or industrial design in the medical technology field, where I can use my diverse skill set to make a positive impact on as many people as possible. 

As the next President of the Society of Women Engineers @ UCLA, I want to continue to encourage women in STEM to stay confident in their presence in these fields and to work hard to combine their interests to their own unique niche for their careers. It might be harder than following a standard path, but it’ll make you more resilient and is worth the effort to have a fulfilling career. Growing and evolving can be uncomfortable, but there’s beauty in the journey of discovering the intersection of your best abilities and your aspirations. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Studying engineering hasn’t always been easy, but finding a community and learning how to support myself helped me feel that I could persevere despite obstacles. My first physics course at UCLA was the first time I truly struggled with class content, and I felt like everyone else was more familiar with the content than I was. I truly feared I was getting “weeded” out of engineering. I know many engineering students, especially girls, share this experience. Developing my personal and professional skills outside of my classes has helped me detach myself worth from my academic performance and feel more confident despite struggle in my coursework. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our organization’s mission is to inspire and empower underrepresented groups to reach their fullest potential as engineers and leaders. Our 20 board members, 60 committee members, and 200 general members conduct outreach to middle and high school students; host industry networking, career fair, and professional development events; foster a sense of community through bond-building activities; provide opportunities for students to develop technical skills; and encourage students to advocate and lobby for change in our community and beyond. Our most involved members gain confidence in public speaking, mentoring others, and managing their time effectively to host successful events. Leading and developing professional skills through our organization helps our members feel comfortable with taking on high levels of responsibility and communicating effectively with others, which prepare them for their careers in industry and academia. 

We are always looking to collaborate with companies to host events and provide internship and full-time opportunities to our talented community of UCLA engineers. Our sponsors help us execute all of our wonderful events, and they get to connect with motivated and excited engineering students! Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in hosting an info session or another event with our organization! 

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In upcoming years, we want to continue our work retaining women-identifying students in engineering and other STEM fields. There will always be a need for inclusion, and we are planning to expand our work to emphasize allyship in education and the workforce. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ucla.swe.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swe.ucla/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swe.ucla/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/swe-ucla
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/swe_ucla/