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Seniors to Watch: Santina Watts
Pat Jacoby | February 20, 2007
From the time she was “about five,” Santina Watts knew what she wanted to be when she grew up: an engineer.
Santina and her mother were on a tour of Hearst Castle when, her mother recalls, the pre-schooler became entranced with the estate’s magnificent showplace, “Casa Grande,” with its imposing towers, and the three guesthouses of Mediterranean Revival style. Guided by her mother, a discussion of structures followed, setting the little girl on a path from which she hasn’t deviated.
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Santina Watts studying at the Geisel Library. |
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Fast forword to Santina’s senior year at UCSD’s School of Engineering, where the 21-year-old just received notice that her article on “Data Reduction Analysis and Model Calibration for Unreinforced Masonry Infill Frames” has been approved for publication in the spring issue of California Engineer magazine. Or, as the first in her family who will graduate from college, she holds a 3.396 GPA as a structural engineering major.
In between there was growing up in Whittier, a suburb of Los Angeles, and attending a private Catholic school; all the while with encouragement from her mother to aim for higher learning and define her interests. When it came time to decide on a college, UCSD was her first and only choice.
“I felt it had the best balance of all the attributes I was looking for in an institution,” she says. “Most importantly, since UCSD offered structural engineering as an undergraduate program, it allowed me to focus directly on what I wanted to study instead of having to get the more general civil engineering degree offered at other universities.”
During her four years at UCSD, Santina participated in the McNail Program, a competitive undergraduate doctoral training program; the Faculty Mentor Program, in which individual students are assigned to faculty mentors and conduct research for two quarters; the California Alliance for Minority Participation in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (CAMP), and conducted summer research at UCSD and the SUPERB program at UC Berkeley.
She also works as a CAMP program intern in the Academic Enrichment Program office and, according to David Artis, director, “she’s not only one of our students, but a member of our office staff and has been a great addition, helping us run CAMP smoothly and adding a level of cheerfulness to even mundane office duties. We’re very lucky we found her.” Santina adds, “working for this group the past two years has allowed me to have a direct impact on increasing the number of minorities that complete bachelor and graduate degrees in the sciences and engineering. CAMP tries to offer events and services that will help support underrepresented students.”
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Santina Watts performing final calibrations on her project titled Testing of Leaning Columns in an Unbraced Moment Frame System. She conducted her work under faculty mentor
Chia-Ming Uang at UC San Diego.
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The SUPERB (Summer Undergraduate Program for Engineering Research at Berkeley) experience, Santina says, had a strong impact on her graduate school plans. Which are, hopefully, UC Berkeley. “I worked on data analysis and model calibration masonry infill walls under Professor Khalid Mosalam in the civil engineering department,” she notes.” Being able to take such an active part in the project helped me see that graduate school at Berkeley would allow me to study the topics that interest me within structural engineering.”
Santina also worked in a UCSD summer research program under Chia-Ming Uang, professor of structural engineering, studying the effects of leaning columns in moment frame systems according to the recommended building code specifications. “The experience was significant,” she says, “because it deepened my understanding of the procedures involved in the design of steel structures as well stimulating an interest in making a career in research. I had never previously considered going into academics since I don’t come from a family of university graduates. Having a positive research experience with Dr. Uang opened my eyes to this new career possibility.”
Dr. Uang notes that “when Santina worked with me on a research project two summers ago, she didn’t have the required background. Yet she demonstrated herself to be a researcher who could conduct research independently and presented her findings to her peers effectively.”
Asked what advice she would give to an incoming freshman such as her sister, Isabella, the senior student says “find your niche at UCSD as soon as you get here. There are a lot of good resources to help you succeed, but the difficult part is figuring out which ones are best suited to your needs.” As to her favorite spots on campus, Santina says the SIO Library is her favorite study hangout, and the Grove Café is her favorite place to eat and relax.
And where does she see herself in 10 years? “I hope to be working as a professor at a competitive four-year university. I would like to spend most of my time in undeveloped communities studying the best ways to improve building conditions through hands-on work and laboratory research. But, most importantly, by the time I’m 31, I see myself climbing Mount Everest, camping out at Pere Lachaise, and winning a Nobel Prize,” the talented student replies. |
