Michael Gill
Class of 2023
Major: Electrical Engineering
Hometown: La Plata, MD
High School: La Plata High School

What Made You Decide to Attend UMD?
I chose to attend UMD for several reasons. First, I was amazed by the wonderful engineering programs and knew I wanted to surround myself with like-minded peers. When I toured UMD my sophomore year of high school, I saw amazing classrooms and labs, which affirmed by decision to attend UMD. Second, my parents both attended UMD, so I knew a lot about the school before enrolling. Third, I am born and raised in Maryland, so I've always heard about UMD's national and international merit among universities and wanted to be a participant.
Best Experience with a Class or Project
This semester, I am participating in an optoelectronics lab where we project laser beams and white light onto a variety of objects and observe what happens. In many physics and engineering classes, I have learned about the theory behind optics and how light moves. But, I've never really seen it with my own eyes. To finally test theory and see how light moves in experiments is so fascinating to me!
Favorite Class In Major
ENEE324: Engineering Probability
Favorite Class Out of Major
HONR299F: Honors Seminar; Financial Crises: The Foundation of Global Tension
Student Organizations/Extracurricular Activities
On campus, I am an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow (UTF) in the ECE Department, in the ECE Combined B.S./M.S. program, and involved in intramural sports. I am also part of the University Honors LLP, where I met most of my friends during my freshman and sophomore years. In past years, I have also served as a Peer Mentor in the ECE Department and been a tutor for introductory courses.
Favorite On-Campus Event
Over the last 4 years, my favorite memories have stemmed from attending UMD sporting events. It's always nice to take a break from studying or doing homework to meet up with friends and cheer on the Terps! In my time here, I've witnessed plenty of sports successes, including the lacrosse teams winning both the Big Ten and national championships, basketball teams winning the Big Ten, baseball team winning the Big Ten and hosting a Regional in the national championships, and men's soccer raising their national championship banner.
Favorite Research or Study Abroad Experiences
Building an Over Sand Vehicle (OSV) in ENES100 my freshman year was one of the first experiences where I participated in the entire engineering process. I enjoyed brainstorming ideas with teammates, realizing that our ideas wouldn't work, revising our design to function properly, and build and test the vehicle. I learned some of the most important engineering lessons in ENES100 and had an amazing time building a (semi)functional product!
Cool Engineering Experience
During my summer internship at NAVAIR the last two summers, I have been a part of a flight test team that has tested a variety of avionic components in helicopters. This past summer, I had the opportunity to take part in testing in a large anechoic chamber to determine the impacts of RF jamming on aircraft communications, and even fly a helicopter in a simulator with pilots!
BACK TO ALL AMBASSADORSTop