Motivation Monday

This week we chatted with Shivani Chawla, Class of 2025, from Bridgewater, New Jersey. Shivani chose MSE because, being Penn Engineering’s smallest and most broad department, it would allow her to work closely with mentors on projects using an interdisciplinary lens. She was drawn in by Professor Shu Yang’s research on Gecko hairs.

Shivani is super interested in using nature’s recipe to inform novel biomaterials that bring us toward a more sustainable future, which MSE tackles head-on. She hopes looking at pre-existing natural phenomena will help us discover biodegradable materials to combat pollution and climate change. She is super excited to start working in a lab!

Shivania is already loving having a tight-knit family of faculty and peers in MSE. Before coming to Penn, she was a little intimidated by the size of the department, but has found everyone incredibly welcoming and just as excited to be on campus as she is.

On Sundays, you can find Shivani working out, reading outside, or catching up on Netflix.