Senior Spotlight: Reiko Yoshizawa

Reiko Yoshizawa is finishing her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at UC Davis. After graduating, she will start a full-time job as a manufacturing engineer at the medical device company Penumbra.

One of her favorite memories from her time at the College of Engineering was building a gearbox that could carry a couple of textbooks up a ramp in her mechanical design class. Reiko and her friends faced a myriad of challenges when manufacturing and assembling the components, but she enjoyed the work and it was rewarding to see the final project in action.

Some of the best advice that Reiko received was to get involved in a student design team, keep your notes from previous courses and attend office hours because it’s better to ask for help than to go through hours of frustration by yourself.

“Student design teams allow you to put the concepts you have learned into practice and develop both teamwork and leadership skills, since classes can only take you part of the way to becoming an engineer.” Said Reiko.

She is going to miss having picnics in the quad or at the Greenbelt with her friends, treating herself to Shah’s chicken over rice and going to the farmers market on the weekend. One of the quotes that Reiko lives by is “you only get out what you put in” and she encourages others to throw themselves into something that interests them and give it their best without hesitation.