Once again, Relay for Life at Rensselaer was an astounding success. Throughout the night, I met a number of cancer survivors who shared their stories with me. What I was most fascinated by was the energy and positive attitude of everyone I spoke with—even those currently afflicted with cancer. This experience caused a significant amount of self-reflection for me. In those moments of reflection I learned what was most important in life, who I hold dear, and what I can do to help. While I could thoroughly examine all those thoughts, I’d like to focus on the one that is especially pertinent to us at an engineering school.
Relay for Life kicked off with a few speakers, one being a surgeon who specializes in operating on cancer patients. He spoke first about video games and how they helped him become a great surgeon. Right as I started to question why this matters, he finally pulled it all together. He continued to speak about how he uses a surgical robot, the DaVinci S by Intuitive Medical, to help operate on patients.
I then began to think about all the students at this school who could design and operate such an instrument. We are taught many concepts and ideas in our classes, but this is a real-life example of how a multidisciplinary group produced a machine that helps fight cancer.
The main reason I bring this up, is that many students at RPI want to help people and make a difference in the world. We must not be so naïve as to forget that what we are learning now can be used to affect individual lives. For me, this is a motivation in my studies. I have decided to become a doctor and work with patients one-on-one, but many students are not choosing this path to change lives. Rather, they choose to engineer the machines that will impact a positive social, economic, or quality of life change.
I feel that we often forget the global impact that our ideas create. We jump from one homework assignment to another, many times not seeing the larger picture or possibilities that are available. Whether you are an electrical engineer making circuits, a mechanical engineer making a small machine, or a civil engineer designing street systems, know that your knowledge can be used to impact a large social change. I know not all professions impact the health sciences, but ultimately our creations will impact a human in some way. We need to keep this in mind as we go out into the world and start working for different companies. We must make sure that the companies we are getting involved in like Intuitive Medical are focused on making a positive change in society, rather than on purely capitalistic gains.
With that said, I want to wish you all a very relaxing, fun-filled, and productive summer. If you ever get discouraged with your work, take a moment and trace its effects back to a family member, friend, or close acquaintance. We are all part of a bigger world than just the RPI campus, and as we realize that, our motivations should change. Consciously make the right decisions about how you live, work, and play this summer, and I promise you will find this to be the best summer yet.
