Meet Madison Lin, a 2021 Boettcher Scholar from Broomfield. Madison is a senior at the University of Colorado Boulder studying aerospace engineering and electrical and computer engineering. She lives life to the fullest and prioritizes creativity at every turn, filling her time by making art, leading the CU Swim and Dive Team, engineering projects, and more.
You are involved in many disciplines; art and engineering, to name a few. Why are these two seemingly disparate disciplines so important to you? Do you see a connection between them?
I have always found myself involved with a whole bunch of different activities that seemingly don’t relate at all. Having this variety of disciplines has helped me feel more balanced, allowing me to pursue all of my distinct interests, and these two are no different. I always knew I wanted to go towards engineering as a career path, but I didn’t want to let go of creating art while I did that. Art challenges me to be more creative and not lose sight of the bigger picture even when focusing on the tiniest details. Engineering imposes a more methodical approach, building upon a predetermined plan to produce the final product.
What is your favorite engineering project on which you have worked? Which challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
My favorite engineering project I’ve worked on so far has been a high-altitude balloon payload I created as part of an internship program last summer. Our group wanted to create a payload that was not only functional but visually entertaining. So, we designed our payload to depict a fictional moon landing scene, complete with aliens and UFOs on the outside, while embedding our sensors and instruments into the interior of our structure.
The biggest challenge we faced was the timeline we had to meet for the project. We only had around six weeks to come up with a design, pitch it to our mentors, build, test, and launch, all the while meeting only twice a week. However, our group of five was able to organize the work incredibly well, and we finished with only a little bit of painting left to do at the campout before our successful launch.
What is your favorite art medium, and why? Which artists inspire you, and how?
My favorite art medium is simply graphite pencil. There’s something so satisfying about being able to create a detailed piece that catches peoples’ eyes with such a simple tool. My favorite things to draw with pencil are portraits, and almost everyone that I have drawn is an artist who has inspired me in some way. They include Alicia Keys, Wrenn Schmitt (who plays the character Margo Madison in the show For All Mankind, and Pink to name a few. All of them have inspired me to become more confident in myself and take pride in what makes me unique.
Which impact are you most proud of creating and why?
During the summer before my senior year of high school, I worked with two other students to create an initiative called Edu4Space: an organization that provides resources for students interested in space-related careers. The three of us had noticed that many individuals around our age had never been exposed to the multitude of opportunities for space careers, but were interested in learning more once introduced.
We researched and compiled information on various occupations and programs, interviewed specialists in the field, and organized student-led webinars for fellow scholars to share their involvement – all to help others have easy access to these resources and opportunities that we would have liked to have.
As our community grew, we brought on some more help to cultivate our online forum, connect us to more individuals, and provide more information to those interested. Although our activities have dwindled in recent years due to schoolwork, I am still incredibly proud of the work we have done and will continue to do. Our organization has reached hundreds of people around the world, encouraging them to pursue their dream jobs, facilitating research groups that have published their work, and connecting individuals to others with similar interests.
Which information is important for engineers to know about art? What is critical for artists to understand about engineering?
There are a lot of things engineers and artists could learn from each other, but even more that they have in common. Engineers can gain a lot by emphasizing human-centered designs, boosting project appeal and practicality. Artists can benefit from leveraging new technologies to create new, innovative works that haven’t been seen before. However, both require incredible attention to detail, a willingness to experiment with the work, and immense creativity. A better understanding between the two disciplines could open doors for new possibilities and impacts that would not be possible with only one.
Who has provided you with inspiration or mentorship during your journey?
I feel incredibly lucky for all the teachers and professors that I’ve had throughout high school and college, as many of them have acted as mentors for me, and even more have inspired me throughout my journey. So many of them have been willing to sit down with me to talk about my goals, tell me about their careers, or offer advice when I needed it. There have also been numerous individuals that I’ve met through my internship who have also taken on that role as a mentor and provided me with invaluable guidance and encouragement. These people and their stories have inspired me to keep going along my path to see where I may end up.
