Rudolph Powser

I love to be outside. I’m a freestyle skier, motorcyclist, surfer and mountain biker. I love directing and producing short films as well as poetry and visual art. I grew up with a great deal of instability in my family, but I refused to let it prevent me from accomplishing my goals. I spent two years at Raritan Valley Community College where I received an Associate’s in Engineering Science. I transferred to Cornell because of the opportunity to study structural engineering as well as architecture. Any person, any study, right? Additionally, the financial aid package the school provided was incredible.

While I was studying at community college, I encountered a lot of obstacles whenever I tried to start projects for the engineering club. When I saw how many opportunities there were at Cornell for undergraduate project teams, I rejoiced. It is an awesome feeling to know that you have support from your school to go above and beyond what the curriculum requires. I am currently the design team leader for the Student Steel Bridge Project Team and the structural team leader for the Cornell Wind Power Club. It is my duty to guide my teammates throughout the research and design process in both projects. This is my second year participating on the steel bridge team, and I had a phenomenal time working on the project last year. After competing in Montreal, I knew that I wanted to become a team leader for the next year. I’ve made so many friends though my participation on the teams. Going to competition really brought us all together.

My current research involves wind loading on skyscrapers and methods of preventing lateral and torsional deflections under high wind loads. I eventually want to become an international architect as well as a professional engineer. And I sure picked the right school to start at. I am currently working towards a minor in architecture which allows me to balance the technical aspect of my engineering studies with aesthetically focused projects. It is a huge relief to be able to go from my linear algebra intensive, solid mechanics course to a drawing class that doesn’t even give out homework.

This is my first year living off campus, and the first time I’ve ever lived on my own. I love feeling independent. Ithaca is an amazing place for an outdoorsy person like me. I love going to class a bit early just so I can go down to the gorge and sit next to a waterfall and relax. After being here for one year, I didn’t want to leave. My only complaint is that once the semester gets work intensive, I don’t have much extra time to go out for hikes and motorcycle rides. But hey, that’s not what I’m here for. That’s not to say that you cannot have fun throughout the semester; once I found my rhythm, I had no problem balancing work and play. They do a great job at keeping the pressure on the students at a minimum by providing study weeks, really long breaks and plenty of fun events on campus. If I could give any advice for incoming engineers, I would say get involved immediately. There’s something out there for everyone at Cornell, and not participating in clubs and project teams would be a huge opportunity gone to waste.