This is a guest blog written by Avery Gonzales.
Hey everyone! I’m Avery Gonzales, an Industrial and Systems Engineering student at USC minoring in business finance. I’m from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I spent my childhood reading, tumbling, obsessing over nature and animals, running competitively, and finding out I actually really liked math class, despite popular opinion.
I always knew I wanted to be an engineer, but I wasn’t always an ISE major. I started in biomedical engineering due to my interest in exercise, body mechanics, wearable technology, human factors, and athletic performance. While all of these topics were and still are interesting to me, late in my sophomore fall I had an epiphany about my future, career, and life purpose that changed my entire career trajectory:
I realized I was not interested in the technicalities of electronics, cells, or computer automated design, but rather in the system as a whole that these components make up. I wasn’t interested in the exact science behind developing new technology, but rather in finding the shortcomings and improvement potential within established systems. I realized that my passion wasn’t in creating technology from the ground up, but in continuously improving methodologies and systems already in place.
The most important realization was that this passion for optimization had been in front of me all along, in the most vital part of my life: distance running. I started at the very bottom: gasping for air, stopping every 2 minutes, legs burning and about to give out. Eight years later, the improvement is staggering. I have found the most joy and fulfillment in my life through my running. More specifically, through the journey of continuously improving my endurance, performance, and mental strength. Much like running, Industrial and Systems Engineering focuses on this same ideal that growth and improvement are always possible with enough effort, science, and passion.
Like running, ISE focuses on optimizing systems to provide the most value. In engineering, you focus on improving both efficiency and output. You want your systems to run better for longer, to provide higher output while consuming fewer resources. Running also has a similar approach: run faster for longer. It doesn’t happen overnight; it happens through consistency and progressive overload of 2 key systems: aerobic and anaerobic.
In running your lungs make up your aerobic engine, which is responsible for your endurance, the ability to run for longer periods using less oxygen. The second component is the anaerobic system; the strength and responsiveness of your legs and muscles. Strengthening your muscles lets you exert more force into the ground and develop speed.
Combined, they make up your running economy: how efficient your body is at turning energy into sustained speed. Your running form, strength, and lung capacity all combine to produce what you see on the outside: a fast runner, aka an effective system.
This same concept of improving different components of an engineering system in order to improve the system as a whole is what I love about ISE. In a Formula car, for example, the engineers develop the engine to produce speed and power, but they also work on the body of the car to improve aerodynamics and its overall energy economy. The entire goal of developing a Formula car is to get farther, faster, using less energy – exactly like running!
For me, the key to finding happiness and fulfillment in my career goals and education was by finding a major that connected to my talents and passions outside of school. And even though it was almost too late to make the major switch, I am so happy I did it. This summer I’ll be working in technical planning and strategy at United Airlines, where I’ll be working to make the flying process smoother, faster, and more cost-effective, without sacrificing passenger or employee safety.
