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“UTSA has given me a more insight into what I want to do…”

Jesus Guillen Jr.

Meet Jesus

Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to study engineering. This started back in high school in the Rio Grande Valley, with an interest in VEX Robotics and competitions. I am currently a member of the Honors College, and I am also a member of the Top Scholar program, which is a last-dollar full-ride program — we are a community of 40 intellectually curious students and we are like family. I truly am blessed to have been in both of these programs. I’ve been able to travel to the University of Maine for a research experience funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as the University of North Texas. I also participated in a conference for minority-serving institutions at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I have also competed in the Big Rowdy Idea, which is the entrepreneurship competition organized by UTSA Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Last year, a group of my close friends and I created a start-up company for a smart watch through this competition. It was a great collaboration between engineering students and business students.  And with the help of some amazing mentors, our Big Rowdy Idea won second place in the competition!

I’ve also been involved all across campus. I’ve held leadership roles in the Rowdy Chess Club, the Top Scholars Student Organization and the Eta Kappa Nu honor society for electrical and computer engineers.

major: Electrical and Computer Engineering

year: Senior

hometown: Brownsville, TX