Jazmin Benitez-Diaz

Hello! I am a fourth-year mechanical engineering major with an option in robotic control!

Currently, I’m the lead mentor for first-year and transfer students in ROOTS (Reaching Our Opportunities Through STEM). On the engineering side, I am the vice president for Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)  and the MIME Senator for the Engineering Student Council. In the past, I’ve worked on the development of prosthetic arms as a participant in URSA Engage, a program for paid undergraduate research for first and second-year students. I’ve also been a participant in Leadership, Empowerment, and Purpose (LEAP), a program where you grow as a leader by developing a leadership action and working with an alumni mentor throughout the course of the year.

As for internships, I’ve spent my summers as an intern for a Diverse Educators Pathway program to learn more about STEM education and have been an energy engineering intern at CLEAResult.

In the future, I’m aiming to join the 1% of Latinas who hold a PhD in engineering. I also hope to research human-robot interaction to mix my passion for outreach, education, and bringing STEM opportunities and representation to K-12 students.

In my free time, I love playing video games, hanging out with my chihuahua, and going to boba shops with friends!

My advice to incoming students is to keep showing up, acknowledge your progress, and remember that you deserve to be in every room you walk into.

As a student at Oregon State University, you can get free access to Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha Pro! This is a super useful tool for physics and math courses when you need help learning about topics like integrals!