Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1104607
46 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2019 Last spring, Ross Olson, an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota and member of the U of M Solar Vehicle Project team, attended the Geek-a-Palooza event in Minneapolis and displayed one of their race cars. Through coordinating that effort, I had the opportunity to get to know Ross, and re- cently sat down with him to talk about his in- terest in engineering and his thoughts on the future of the electronics industry, and to hear some great stories about his team experience with the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project. Tara Dunn: Ross, I understand that you have a somewhat non-traditional path into the engi- neering field. Can you give our readers a little bit of background on yourself and how you be- came interested in engineering? Ross Olson: Absolutely. First, I'm a little old- er than your average undergraduate student since this is my second time being an under- grad. About five years ago, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin—Madison (I'm slowly making my way around the Big Ten) with a degree in finance and real estate and moved to Chicago to work in real estate devel- opment. I had an excellent job in Chicago and was privileged to work with some incredible people who I still really admire. But back to your original question, I became interested in engineering during my first un- dergrad stint. I've always been inquisitive and New Engineering Talent Joining the Electronics Industry Flex Talk Feature Column by Tara Dunn, OMNI PCB Figure 1: University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project team at the American Solar Challenge in the summer of 2018.