A huge thank you to Caden McDaniel for making this year’s rush process a huge success, and to Liza Robinson and Ryan Hogan for being our pledge marshals! We are so excited to welcome an amazing group of new members.
Abby Burger
- Year and Major: Freshman in Civil Engineering
- Hometown: Middleton, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I choose civil engineering because I like how broad it is and all of the opportunities it offers to explore different things.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The large campus and all of the cool people
- Favorite Movie? Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
- Hobbies/Interests: Hiking, Camping, Weightlifting, Crocheting, Hanging out with friends
- What was your dream job as a kid? Veterinarian
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Become fluent in another language
Alan Chen
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Computer Engineering
- Hometown: Stewartsville, NJ
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I chose computer engineering because I’ve always been fascinated by how technology works and how it can be used to solve complex problems. I enjoy the challenge of slowly building efficient systems and figuring out how different components interact.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? Lake Mendota and Picnic Point. They are both amazing spots where you can wind down and relax.
- Favorite Movie? Green Book
- Hobbies/Interests: Cooking, baking, tennis, volleyball, gaming
- What was your dream job as a kid? Police Officer
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Go on a trip to Japan/southeast Asia with my hometown friends.
Aadya Ganjigunta
- Year and Major: Freshman in Computer Engineering
- Hometown: San Jose, CA
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I love the interdisciplinary nature of engineering and also loved taking computer science classes in high school. So, I figured computer engineering is the perfect mix of my passions for both hardware and software.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? Hanging out with my friends by the lake and visiting new coffee shops every week!
- Favorite Movie? The Truman Show
- Hobbies/Interests: Playing volleyball, going on runs, and reading!
- What was your dream job as a kid? I wanted to be an Imagineer and design rollercoasters for Disneyland.
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Skydiving
Julia Geng
- Year and Major: Freshman in Industial and Systems Engineering
- Hometown: Irvine, CA
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I love the combination of business and technicality of engineering that industrial engineering has.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? how walkable the city is
- Favorite Movie? Home Alone 1
- Hobbies/Interests: being outside, gymnastics, hiking, cooking/baking, crocheting
- What was your dream job as a kid? orthopedic surgeon
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? visiting all the Christmas markets in Europe
Ellie Fecko
- Year and Major: Freshman in Mechanical Engineering
- Hometown: New York City, NY
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I love STEM and problem solving, and engineering feels like the best combination of my intrests.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? I love everything about UW-Madison, but Lake Mendota might win overall.
- Favorite Movie? The Warriors
- Hobbies/Interests: I love to bake, especially over complicated cookies. I also love to play guitar and make all kinds of art.
- What was your dream job as a kid? It changed like every two seconds I was so interested in everything
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Visit all 7 continents
Neil Deore
- Year and Major: Freshman in Computer Science and Data Science
- Hometown: Sunnyvale, CA
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I enjoy programming and math, and my majors can be applied to a wide a variety of careers.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The campus, facilities, and staff are all top tier here.
- Favorite Movie? Tropic Thunder
- Hobbies/Interests: Soccer, Weightlifting, Reading, Biking, Hiking
- What was your dream job as a kid? Front Office Quantitative Analyst
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Bench 225lbs for 12 repetitions.
Carson Donze
- Year and Major: Freshman in Mechanical Engineering
- Hometown: Rice Lake, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? Because it matched my interests
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? How you can walk everywhere
- Favorite Movie? The princess bride
- Hobbies/Interests: Soccer, swimming, movies and tv, music (drums and dj-ing), and video games
- What was your dream job as a kid? I didn’t have a dream job
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? I want to go cliff jumping
Garret Donohue
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Computer Engineering
- Hometown: Mosinee, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I want to develop technology!
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The people and opportunities
- Favorite Movie? Good Will Hunting
- Hobbies/Interests: Lifting, the Outdoors, Golfing, Thrifting
- What was your dream job as a kid? K-9 Police Officer
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? I want to complete an IronMan race
Chandini Krejcarek
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Environmental Engineering
- Hometown: Madison, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I like problem solving, and I want to help improve the environment.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? I really like the people here, and I also love being near the lakes.
- Favorite Movie? How to Train Your Dragon
- Hobbies/Interests: Art (any kind), soccer, music
- What was your dream job as a kid? Paleontologist
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Travel to New Zealand.
Christian Sacia-Garcia
- Year and Major: Freshman in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Brookfield, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? To help find ways to improve the lives of those struggling with cancer.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The interesting and bright people and the campus
- Favorite Movie? Good Will Hunting
- Hobbies/Interests: Guitar, Boxing, waterboarding, reading
- What was your dream job as a kid? Paleontologist
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? A notable accomplishment in research/ and to get shredded
Damek Mangum
- Year and Major: Freshman in Nuclear Engineering
- Hometown: Andover, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I want to be involved in nuclear fusion research and expand nuclear energy in the US.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The people are great and there are a lot of things to do around town.
- Favorite Movie? Good Will Hunting
- Hobbies/Interests: I love hockey and listening to all kinds of music.
- What was your dream job as a kid? Professional Hockey Player
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Find my people and build a community
Joseph McIlwain
- Year and Major: Freshman in Mechanical Engineering
- Hometown: Lake Zurich, IL
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? Always interested in science and math, wanted to have very general degree that would allow me to enter many fields while I figure out what I want to do.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The Memorial Union terrace at sunset
- Favorite Movie? Mad Max - Fury Road
- Hobbies/Interests: Watching sports, fishing, golfing, working out, country music
- What was your dream job as a kid? Lego set designer
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Start my own business
Noah Lisowski
- Year and Major: Freshman in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Oregon, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I’m hoping to get into a career where I can manufacture protective equipment for sports specifically helmets if possible and biomedical engineering will help me reach that goal. Any job I get within biomedical engineering will allow me to improve the lives of people which is something I’m super passionate about as well.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? All the people I’ve been able to meet so far and all the events and places to go to meet new people.
- Favorite Movie? Remember the Titans
- Hobbies/Interests: Basketball and Fantasy Football
- What was your dream job as a kid? NBA player
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Create something that makes somebody’s life better or safer.
Evan Loe
- Year and Major: Freshman in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Northfield, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I enjoy problem solving and math and science courses. I also want to be involved in medical technology as it has such a positive impact on people’s health and lives.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The community and location
- Favorite Movie? Knives Out
- Hobbies/Interests: Running, camping, being on the lake
- What was your dream job as a kid? Doctor
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Ironman
Isaac Hass
- Year and Major: Freshman in Mechanical Engineering
- Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? The versatility
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? Campus
- Favorite Movie? Interstellar
- Hobbies/Interests: Baseball, tennis, fishing, outdoors
- What was your dream job as a kid? Engineer
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Climb K2
Alex Haas
- Year and Major: Freshman in Civil Engineering
- Hometown: Chanhassen, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I felt that since i was good at math i’d continue to do a field with math and science. My dad works at an engineering firm so it made me want to aswell.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The people here are great and so is all of the help for classes when needed
- Favorite Movie? Jurassic Park
- Hobbies/Interests: Watching football, hanging out with friends, gym, and watching sports
- What was your dream job as a kid? Paleontology
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Being able to say I can afford my kids college
Sam Snyder
- Year and Major: Freshman in Engineering Mechanics
- Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? Always wanted to do engineering and loved planes as a kid.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The lakes
- Favorite Movie? Alvin and the Chipmunks Chip-wrecked
- Hobbies/Interests: Hiking, traveling!
- What was your dream job as a kid? Food scientist
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Travel the world
Siri Stolen
- Year and Major: Freshman in Geological Engineering
- Hometown: New Brighton, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I love math and being outside and geological engineering seemed like the perfect way for me to mix stem and environmentalism!
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? Lake Mendota
- Favorite Movie? The Princess Bride
- Hobbies/Interests: Playing sports with friends, camping and backpacking, Spotify wrapped, food
- What was your dream job as a kid? Firefighter
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Backpacking in New Zealand!
Emma Stroshane
- Year and Major: Freshman in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Osceola, WI
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I knew that I wanted to help people medically, but I also wanted to be able to problem solve and work with CAD and designing, so I picked BME. It allows me to continue learning about the body while also working on medical issues without being so hands-on with the body.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? My favorite part about UW-Madison is lakeshore path when the sun is setting and everybody, including me, is just enjoying the view.
- Favorite Movie? My favorite movie is Shark Tales.
- Hobbies/Interests: I like to play tennis, take photos, make collages, read, and do anything artsy.
- What was your dream job as a kid? My dream job as a kid was a teacher.
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? One thing that I want to accomplish in my lifetime is to go snorkeling in a tropical place with tons of fish.
Hadeel Manimaran
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Computer Science and Engineering
- Hometown: Chennai, India
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I like how much logic and problem solving involved. I also like playing around with data and graphs.
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? People watching on Bascom Hill and the Memorial Union Terrace
- Favorite Movie? Pitch Perfect or Bend it like Beckham
- Hobbies/Interests: Watching every sport in the world. Reality TV is a close second
- What was your dream job as a kid? I was a really big reader when I was younger so probably an author
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Run an ironman
Violet Urdahl
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I’m fascinated by medical devices and wanted to make them myself
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The culture of a good work/life balance
- Favorite Movie? Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
- Hobbies/Interests: Gymnastics, thrifting, reading, and sewing
- What was your dream job as a kid? Veterinarian, solely for puppies
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? I want to create a client-specific device that improves their quality of life (also skydiving)
Ben Walther
- Year and Major: Sophomore in Biomedical Engineering
- Hometown: Chanhassen, MN
- Why did you choose your major/engineering? I want to make devices and/or processes that will help improve the human body
- Favorite part about UW-Madison? The scenery of campus and the city of Madison
- Favorite Movie? The Dark Knight
- Hobbies/Interests: Lifting, card games, sports, hiking
- What was your dream job as a kid? Basketball Player
- One thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Dunking a basketball