User:Kuzalj

My name is Luke Kuza, and I am currently a student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. My majors of study include computer engineering and physics, with a minor being pursued in philosophy. I am an engineering student at my core, fascinated by technology since the age of five and eventually entering the world of engineering formally by partaking in the FIRST Robotics Competition program all four years of high school.

I have been a curious engineer ever since that age of five, even asking Santa for a laptop at that age just because technology intrigued me so much. During high school, I enjoyed each and every year that I could bring my talents to my robotics team, and enjoyed partaking in my own personal projects in my free time. After just one year on the team, I became the lead programmer. The next two years I became team captain and led our team to multiple district, state, and world championship events. FIRST taught me many skills that other students do not learn until college, such as the importance of working well with your team and creating a product together. Our team could not have achieved what it did without working together, and I am glad to say I enjoy working with teams. In addition, FIRST taught me how to make quality designs by teaching me industry standards and tools such as Quality Function Deployment, Pugh Analysis, and Design for Six Sigma.

I chose my main degree in computer engineering because I have always been fascinated with "how" a computer works. Ever since seeing the commercials by Intel saying "With Intel Inside," I was really curious what was inside. Learning about how computers work on a low level has always been a passion of mine, and strikes my ever growing curiosity. In addition to computer engineering, I also am interested in the realm of physics. Originally, physics had been a hobby for me, as I would look up new theories or discoveries in my own time, and slowly learned how the universe worked. I was always curious about how the universe worked at a theoretical level, and that was something computer engineering just couldn't explain to me. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to double major in physics.

In addition to engineering, I like to keep myself balanced in all aspects of my life. When I am not worrying about my classes, I enjoy reading, especially difficult and thought provoking books, such as Plato's Republic. While I enjoyed taking part in deep conversation with my peers, I decided I wanted to go deeper in this and decided to minor in philosophy. Philosophy provides a nice and relaxing break from the engineering mindset, and allows me to think in different ways I normally wouldn't. I also enjoy writing papers that require heavy thought in addition to reading, and philosophy proved to be a good solution to that.

In my free time, aside from working on engineering projects, I enjoy playing hockey and many other activities. I am currently the President of the Rose-Hulman Floor Hockey club, and am very passionate about the sport. I partake in many Intramural sports, especially Ultimate Frisbee, and enjoy long distance and mountain biking when I have longer breaks. I was a varsity wrestler in high school, and before getting injured, was slated to have an amazing junior season. I am originally from Detroit, Michigan, and during the winter months, I go up north in the middle of nowhere in a cabin to hunt (bow and gun) in the heavy cold and snow.

As I continue my career, I plan to stay curious so that I have the passion to continue learning. I want to combine my physics knowledge with my computer engineering knowledge to create the best and most helpful devices to solve problems currently in the world and make it a better place for everyone. If there is one thing philosophy has told me, it is that you should never stop learning.