Why do I enjoy this? Why do I continue to pursue this? Will I continue on this path? These and many more are questions I have not only encountered but have been forced to reconcile during my time leading up to now.
My journey hasn't been one of great interest or profound interest, but rather one of passion and ever-growing curiosity in what the subject has to offer and the evolving material that I get to study.
I was never one to be affixed with a specific subject or discipline, and I seem to have tried various different things before settling on my true interests. What draws me the most about my chosen subject, engineering, is the fact that you can apply human ingenuity and creative thinking intertwined with disciplinary studies to obtain a tangible result that could create at least some impact. This seemingly trivial issue of creation and exploration molded a cycle of study for me. The process began to move me, not simply because I felt I was creating something with each minute spent, but because I was shaping myself as much as my projects.
The projects I began to deal with became not only more complex, but more intricate, reflecting my growth through the journey, and it all began on one particular day. I remember the day distinctly: the first day I was introduced to 3D printing.
While this seems like an interesting toy to most, this technology really engrossed me, because I was literally able to build anything. Anything. Absolutely anything I wanted. And this is where I truly began to explore the bounds of what engineering truly is. Because instead of testing the technology or exploring the possibilities, I immediately made the most complex thing I could think of. My construct, A scaled model of the colosseum in the form of a classroom drew inspiration from classic Greek architecture, fused with civil and interior design frequent to lecture halls. And while this in itself has nothing to do with engineering, it showed me that the most beautiful thing about engineering is that it's not constrained by anything. I came to realize that I was not operating with limits or restrictions, but was building on an infinite plane, blank and completely uncompromised. It hit me then that what I truly desired was not building, but creating. Not construction, but inception. As I feel it has happened with many others, I began to realize what I wanted to do and how.
Now even though this dream sounded very idealistic and ignorant of real life, through reading and observation, I came to know that this hobby was attainable as a career and a life-path. Engineering is an amalgamation of everything. From art to science to ethics and more, the fact of the matter is that making stuff comes from other stuff. This simple, obvious fact, lays the groundwork for all inspiration and motivation to create. Apart from the evident joy of making, there also lies the underlying benefit of progression. Not just as an individual but even a society. You may build something for yourself, and it may benefit someone else. The implications that creation can have been seen throughout the world.
Everything we see around us, including the device this is being read on are all a result of the creative genius of one mind at a point in time. That is the true beauty of engineering.
But enough about that. Engineering is a broad field, with enough material for the whole human race to cover. My specific interest lies in automation engineering, which is the synthesis of moving machines. My main reason for enjoying this field of study is simple: it is lively. Being curious about the nature of nearly everything, it is only fitting that my true interests take the form of the most curious of behaviour. This tendency of motion, be it on a large or small scale not just drives the world, but composes reality. I was so interested in how I did so, that I began to read. Read and experience. Read and experience. Read and experience. Time and Time again, I was drawn back to the field because it allowed me to experience all different kinds of intricate devices that we so rarely get to look into. Now, I am not well-versed enough to have understood all of it, but the exposition itself made all the difference.
From cars to paper planes to lego drones, I was investigating the automation around me. Unlike a few others, I do not have a particular instance or event that revolutionized my world pulling me into the subject. Instead, I relish the journey along with those who made it possible en route to me getting hooked on all things engineering. It is famously quoted that the journey is more important than the destination, but in my case, the recollection is more important than the journey and the destination. And while not the most conventional of routes, I feel I can truly be satisfied with what I have dedicated myself to and enjoy the end result as the culmination of the experience. And while this has been about my journey, I truly believe that my environment is what resulted in my fixation with engineering.
- Rahul Kurien
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