Jason Williams

Hi, my name is Jason, and I’m from Severn, Maryland. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, hiking, and watching movies. At Oregon State University, I’ve been actively involved in several leadership and mentorship opportunities, including the Reaching Our Opportunities Through Stem (ROOTS)Program, where I mentor first-year STEM students. I also served as President of the National Society of Black Engineers chapter and founded a Caribbean student organization called WAVES. Through these organizations, I’ve built leadership skills while fostering a strong sense of community on campus, which was especially meaningful to me as an out-of-state student.

Over the past three years, I’ve also developed strong technical skills through research and internship experiences. For the past two years, I’ve worked as a research assistant in a robotics lab, contributing to projects focused on planetary surface testing and robotic design. My work included developing a robotic leg and building a frame stand for a fluidized bed used to study how legged robots interact with different surface conditions, with the goal of improving robot performance on different planetary terrains. In addition, I completed an internship through MECOP at Boeing, where I worked on commercial airplane programs in Seattle. I’m passionate about innovation and hope to pursue a career in the aerospace or transportation industry while continuing to grow both technically and personally.