With a small campus of nearly 2,800 students, it’s easy for MSOE students to get to know their classmates and make connections with faculty members. These unique, close-knit relationships are what user experience (UX) student Alyssa Escanio loves most about MSOE.

“My favorite part about MSOE is that all the professors will work with you according to your needs due to the small class sizes,” said Escanio. “I also love the fact that user experience is the most outgoing, creating and welcoming major at MSOE. As a cohort, the UX program is like a mini family and the professors make themselves available at any time. I remember one time I was working on a project and had a question for my professor, and she hopped on a Teams call with us at 10 p.m. to ensure we got all our questions answered.”

Escanio was intrigued by the accessibility and usability of UX. “I like interface designing as well as knowing my designs are advocating for the user, ensuring products are easily accessible and usable for all.”

The skills Escanio learned in her UX classes were expanded upon at her summer digital experience internship at Miller Electric in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I focused on redesigning their Hobart Refurbished Products website to be more intuitive and consistent. I also worked on creating Miller Electric website personas to demonstrate users’ interactions on the website based on survey data analysis.”

On campus Escanio is involved in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and this year joined the CREATE student fellows. As a CREATE student fellow, Escanio works with other fellows to ensure students and faculty members have the tools, resources and opportunities to collaborate with community organizations and offer students opportunities to work on real-world projects and strengthen the community.

“I wanted to become a CREATE student fellow because I have a heavy interest in working with non-profit organizations and this was the perfect opportunity for me to be involved in the community and expand my current skillset. It also gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and strengthen my abilities overall within a welcoming and cohesive group environment.”

The student fellows are guided under the leadership of the CREATE Institute at MSOE. The CREATE Institute fosters the growth of the MSOE Mindset by strengthening students’ entrepreneurial mindset and the servant-leader philosophy that transforms students into community builders and ethical professionals.

“I am looking forward to working on more projects and creating more programming for students to partake in,” said Escanio.

Escanio is originally from Chicago. In her free time, you can find her thrifting, baking, cooking, roller-skating, traveling and exploring. You may also catch her eating chips with chopsticks to keep her hands clean!