Student Spotlight

Samantha McNeill is a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse, Utah. Growing up in Utah, Samantha always knew about BYU and had heard about it her whole life. One of the main things that drew her to BYU was the fact that spiritual and secular learning are not separated. As Samantha said, “Truth is truth.” In her classes, Samantha has enjoyed that she gets the opportunity to learn about mechanical engineering concepts intertwined with spiritual aspects.

When she was in fifth grade, Samantha took a robotics class and thoroughly enjoyed it. This made her very interested in how things worked. After deciding to attend BYU, Samantha had to choose a major. She always enjoyed math and specifically loved calculus in high school. Her love of math that is involved with movement and motion led her to decide on engineering. She knew that mechanical engineering would be a perfect way to combine all of her interests!

Samantha participates in many opportunities that involve her major, both on campus and outside of school, the most time-consuming of which is being the President of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She enjoys being a part of SWE because it’s a great place to see all the women in the college get together and bond over their similar experiences. Samantha also interned with ATL technology, a medical device manufacturing and technology company and participated in undergraduate research with Dr. Charles. She helped in the development of a new project using OpenSim to model tremor in the wrist. Both experiences helped Samantha learn more about biomedical engineering, which is one of the main aspects of engineering that she is interested in and hopes to pursue.

In addition to biomedical engineering, Samantha is also interested in energy and mechatronics. She has also thought of going on to get her graduate degree and to teach someday! Samantha is a TA this semester for Heat Transfer and Mechatronics; she hopes this job will give her the valuable experience she needs in engineering and in teaching. Samantha enjoyed both of those classes and is excited to learn more about them through her TA experience.

Believe it or not, Samantha still has lots of hobbies and things she enjoys doing outside of her many engineering commitments! She loves to be outside and feels that Provo is a wonderful place for this. She enjoys playing pickleball and hiking, and even hiked Mount Timpanogos this past summer! One of Samantha’s favorite non-engineering classes here at BYU was her weightlifting SWELL class because it gave her a chance to be active even in her busy schedule.

Samantha loves spending time with her husband and shared a few thoughts with us about how to balance being an engineering student and being married. She explained that it is extremely important to make your spouse feel like a priority in your life. While there are many other things at school to worry about, your spouse should always be your top priority, and they need to feel that way too.

Samantha also had some great advice for others in engineering and how to feel included and like you belong at BYU (because you do!). She said, “Class can’t be all you do. It’s easy to feel disconnected if you just go to class and then go home.”

Samantha suggested to get involved with things outside of class such as clubs and study groups. She also suggests getting to know your professors and faculty members. They are extremely helpful and want to help you succeed. Making friends within the major has been a huge way that Samantha has felt included in the college, so she encourages others to talk to people and find similarities.

“You’re spending a lot of time with these people, might as well make friends,” Samantha said.

We are so grateful to have Samantha as part of our student body and are thankful for the amazing example she sets for her peers.