Aiden Baker - Civil Engineer
Meet Aiden Baker! Mr. Baker is a civil engineer and is a 2024 graduate of UC Berkeley. Mr. Baker shared valuable insights about what it means to study civil engineering in college.
Mr. Baker had an interest in engineering from an early age. As a child, he played with legos and enjoyed building things, as he was fascinated by architectural design. Pursuing an interest in quantitative, number-based studies, Mr. Baker settled upon civil engineering, a mix of both architectural design and quantitative reasoning. For students not yet in college, Mr. Baker recommends pursuing one’s interests through challenging math and science courses and by engaging in clubs.
As a recent college graduate, Mr. Baker understands what it means to attend college these years. Mr. Baker believes that formal classes are only one of the many ways to pursue interest in college. He participated in several engineering activities outside of class, including through his participation in the Concrete Boat Club. Participating in clubs such as this one gave Mr. Baker the opportunity to meet new people. Furthermore, these clubs are an excellent way to demonstrate one’s interest in a given career field. Mr. Baker also believes that performing internships while in college can be a great way of pursuing an interest.
Mr. Baker shared several key takeaways about college. These include that the use of Artificial Intelligence can be extraordinarily helpful in college, allowing students to seek guidance on difficult problems and homework that would otherwise remain unsolved. He also sees the benefit of AI in civil engineering because it can save time and is a very strong tool that anyone can and should use. He also recommends making strong friendships while in college because these friendships can be very valuable in one’s professional and personal life. Additionally, Mr. Baker recommends taking time to enjoy activities outside of school.
For Mr. Baker, a typical day as a civil engineering college student varied. Running track and field at UC Berkeley while pursuing his studies, Mr. Baker understood that time management and organization were very important. For his studies, Mr. Baker took fewer classes than in high school, but these classes were generally more complex than his high school classes. Overall, his school day consisted of attending lectures, performing lab work, and carrying out team-based assignments. Around 70% of his learning time was spent attending lectures, 20% was spent performing lab work, and 10% of his time was spent with team-based activities and assignments.
Mr. Baker appreciates many aspects of studying civil engineering. He enjoys being able to work with the environment and appreciates the many career options available to civil engineering students. He believes the best parts of this field are the quantitative aspects that involve concrete numbers and calculations.
Above all, Mr. Baker believes that time management and networking are two of the most important aspects of college. He believes that one’s time is incredibly valuable at the college level and therefore stresses making priorities and being organized with one’s time. Networking is so incredibly important because it can make finding and obtaining a job much easier. To network, Mr. Baker recommends making friends in college and obtaining referrals from one’s contacts and friends, which can provide an advantage in searching for a job. Using networking apps such as LinkedIn can also be very useful.
Mr. Baker also points out that internships and shadowing can be very helpful in seeing if one truly is interested in engineering and, if so, in determining what specific field one might like to pursue.