“I chose engineering because I like to be involved in solving problems,” says senior Catie Lindquist. In a few days, she will be launching her new career as an electrical engineer with Northrup Grumman in the Chicago suburbs.
Catie landed this job through contacts she made at the Society for Women in Engineering (SWE) national conference in October 2017. “Finding this job early in my senior year made my last semester at Olivet a lot easier because I wasn’t stressed about the job search,” she says.
Her senior engineering project with E2i, a local manufacturing automation company, involved designing a mobile app to size circuit components for a motor. While at Olivet, she also served as a teaching assistant for physics lab plus for courses in computational engineering and automatic controls.
She especially appreciates Professor Joe Makarewicz, her advisor for her senior project and a former NASA engineer. “Prof. Mak doesn’t like to settle,” she says. “He stretched me into learning more. He wants all his students to grow, challenge themselves and succeed.”
Serving on Olivet’s missioneering trips, working on projects and studying with other engineering students made Catie’s time at Olivet much more enjoyable. But it definitely wasn’t all work and no play for her.
“There are a lot of firsts when you go away to college,” she says. “At Olivet, we have a community right from the beginning. It’s a very welcoming atmosphere, which made it easy for me to make friends on campus.” Catie enjoyed many activities with her friends, especially playing intramural sports, attending church together, sharing deep conversations and challenging one another.
“Going away to college grows you,” she says. “At Olivet, I knew I wasn’t alone. I knew I was getting prepared to go out and survive in the world.”
College is a top priority for Catie and the seven sisters in her family. “My parents want all of us to go to college, and they want to help,” she says. “But we all knew we had to work our way through.” During her time at Olivet, Catie held down jobs on and off campus. She also benefited from student loans, as well as the work study program and a generous financial aid package from Olivet.
“I’m ready to leave Olivet, but I also don’t want to leave,” she says. “I now have friendships that are going to last forever, and that’s the greatest thing about Olivet.”
To learn more about the Walker School of Engineering at Olivet, contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@olivet.edu or 800-648-1463.
Published: 5/4/2018
