Beyond engineering

When Catalina Sieh, MechE sophomore, started looking at colleges she knew she needed to find a program that offered enough flexibility for her to explore passions beyond engineering. Thanks to CMU’s interdisciplinary nature, Sieh found a home in Mechanical Engineering without sacrificing her interests in history, culture, and food. That’s right, food.

 

This spring, Sieh and 11 of her classmates traveled to the Middle East for a week as part of the course Documenting Israeli and Palestinian Food Cultures: Teaching and Travel. Students must apply to be enrolled in the course offered by the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

In class, students were introduced to the historical and cultural background surrounding the hybrid nature of Jewish and Palestinian-Arab cultures and their multiple ethnic contributions to food in Israel/Palestine. Come spring break, students boarded a plane and traveled to Israel and the West Bank to be fully immersed in the culture.

I think that taking non engineering courses, especially the ones focused on history or how cultures fit together, is really important to understand people, the world, and how I cab fit in after graduation.

Catalina Sieh, Sophomore, Department of Mechanical Engineering

In class, students were introduced to the historical and cultural background surrounding the hybrid nature of Jewish and Palestinian-Arab cultures and their multiple ethnic contributions to food in Israel/Palestine. Come spring break, students boarded a plane and traveled to Israel and the West Bank to be fully immersed in the culture. 

“Being able to connect with people of a different culture, with really nuanced stories helped me to not only better understand their conflicts, but helped me have even more empathy for what people in different parts of the world are faced with,” Sieh said. 

She noted that despite Arab hospitality being underlined in class, experiencing the generosity first hand was remarkable, and something that she will take with her long after the course concludes.

“I think that taking non engineering courses, especially the ones focused on history or how cultures fit together, is really important to understand people, the world, and how I can fit in after graduation,” Sieh said. “There’s also something to be said about meeting people outside of engineering - being around film majors and architects and learning about how their experiences are different from mine helps me look at challenges from a new perspective.”

On campus, Sieh is a member of the Carnegie Mellon Racing team. As part of the Structures team she is responsible for the design and manufacturing of a mechanical subsystem in the car. She also pursues her interests in music and food by taking chamber music classes and cooking with friends in her free time. After graduation, she’s interested in pursuing a career in industry.