Current job: Project manager, City of Stockton
Major: Engineering management
Hometown: Sunnyvale, California
Extracurriculars: Gamma Alpha Omega, SHPE, MESA
Jeniffer Morfin, a graduate of Pacific’s engineering management degree program, is a project manager with the City of Stockton. We spoke with Morfin about her experiences, her Cooperative Education (CO-OP) internship, her capstone project and how Pacific readied her for the job market. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
What made you decide to study engineering management at Pacific?
I actually decided to enter the program when I was already at Pacific. In my high school I was always conflicted between engineering and science. And I tried that, but it wasn’t for me — the science path. And so I wanted to give engineering a chance. I spoke to — I believe it was Abel [Fernandez] or Mehdi [Khazaeli] — and I really loved what they had to say about the program.
I felt like it was a really good balance between a lot of things. I mean, I’ve taken business classes. I’ve taken an economics class. I’ve taken a mechanical engineering, an electrical, a civil engineering class. I feel like the program allows you to be very well rounded.
Why did you decide to study at Pacific in particular?
What drew me to Pacific was the small faculty-to-student ratio. That made my mom very happy. She was also happy because there was tutoring offered. That was something I knew I was going to be needing. Knowing that I had all those resources was great.
All of these resources made it a great fit for me. I knew I was going to need that additional support, and I felt like UoP was gonna give it to me, and help me succeed and learn. And I’m from Sunnyvale, so it was a good space from home but I could also go back.
Can you talk about how you customized the program to fit your path?
At first I was taking electrical engineering classes. My dad’s an electrician so I was like, “Ooh, let me take these classes.” But no. I learned the basics, but I wanted to learn something else. That’s when I started Civil 15, where you do AutoCAD and I was like, ‘this is fun!’
And then I heard there were mechanical classes where you learn different programs. There’s Revit. I like to play the Sims and build stuff, and I found those classes so exciting — especially Revit and rendering.
You have a lot of group projects. In every class I was in, you had some group projects. I feel like that also helps you with your communication skills, working with different personalities, different people. Really emphasizing that everyone has their own strengths in different things, but that’s what makes a team great.
I can go on about the classes. You learn about the projects, timeline, budgets, scopes, all of that stuff. I feel like everything I learned has been very helpful to my career path.
I was wondering If I could learn a little more about what you and your team did for your capstone project?
I helped with the [School of Engineering and Computer Science’s] student success building. So they were like, “How can we convert this space to be beneficial for the students?” That’s what we worked on. We got to have outreach with the students, speak with the faculty.
You might think renovating something is easy, but no. You have to fit everybody’s needs and wants into one space. And then also thinking about the budget. We had to make it into phases. Phase zero was no money: “Hey, let’s rearrange the furniture we have.” And we were actually able to do that.
It involved a lot of outreach with the students and faculty. It was a really great experience. Like I mentioned, working in a team has really helped tremendously. It’s a real-world type of experience you get. It helps prepare for scenarios and situations that you can be in.
Can you talk about what you did for your CO-OP?
I loved my CO-OP! I went to Abbott, and I was a systems engineer. I would say, before my CO-OP, I was very shy. The CO-OP pushed me above my limits in the sense that I became a more confident individual in my work. Things that I had seen as weaknesses in myself became strengths.
I had the chance to work with a cross-functional team. I had the chance to see the whole V&V — which is validation and verification — of the devices that they have. It was pretty much a project that I got to be in charge of: setting up for it, who are going to be the testers, how many hours does this take?
A lot of my classes did come in handy in the sense of: “OK, you have a timeline. How long does this take, right? What are some risks? What are things you can think of?”
I would say I learned a lot. I got pushed out of my comfort zone but not in a bad way. In a really, really good way. It made me become more confident in myself.
I have nothing but great things to say about being able to do a CO-OP. It was a great experience. When you apply to jobs when you graduate, a lot of people are looking for some kind of experience. So it does help a lot.
I was going to ask if you thought the program prepared you for your field.
It definitely does. I actually didn’t end up doing anything in the biomedical field, but project management — you can apply that to a lot of things. Some people might be like, “oh, you’re engineering management. That might not apply to this and that.” But if you think about it, it does apply to many things.
I worked at Bay Cities [Paving and Grading] my first year out of college, as a project engineer, where I was able to apply the things I learned at school. At my first big kid job, right? Even my CO-OP experience, it all helped out a lot.
Now I’m a project manager for the parks division [at the City of Stockton], I find myself thinking, “Oh, this is the stuff that I learned back when I took these classes at UOP.” I would say it’s all tied together nicely.
Were you involved in on-campus extracurricular activities at Pacific?
Yes, I was. And I will tell anybody and everybody: if you are scared your freshman year to join something, do it.
I waited until after I came back from the CO-OP. I started joining all kinds of things, because I still had a year left. I joined Gamma Alpha Omega and I will say: I found my forever friends. I just got married and they were my bridesmaids. They’re like sisters to me. Even my family is always asking about them.
Another program I joined was SHPE [Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers]. That’s actually where I met my husband. Being a part of that was amazing. I got to meet forever friends, like I mentioned. It gave me a sense of a second home, as well.
And MESA [Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement] as well, because I worked for MESA and was also a part of MESA. All of those programs were great. And I feel like I’m still connected with all of those people. I see everybody as family, because they have all been crucial in a big part of my life, which I’m forever grateful for.