Hi everyone, I’m Eric Van de Putte, and I’m a first-year engineering student here at Pitt. My plan is to study electrical engineering because of my interest in technology and physics. To give a quick introduction on myself, I was born and raised here in Pittsburgh by my mother, who is from Taipei, Taiwan, and my father, who is from Brussels, Belgium. I have always identified myself as a Pittsburgher, but I am also proud of my diverse background. I grew up speaking Mandarin Chinese and have made many visits back to Belgium and Taiwan to see family and the places where my parents grew up.
Some of my favorite hobbies include going to the gym, playing the guitar, watching sports, and watching movies. My favorite sports teams are Pitt football and basketball, the Steelers, the Pirates, and Tottenham Hotspur, a soccer team in London that features Heung-Min Son, one of the most prolific South Korean and Asian soccer players ever. As I previously mentioned, I plan on majoring in electrical engineering, and I have been involved with SOAR, specifically the Avionics team, which is a club here that builds a rocket that we bring to a national competition every year. SOAR has been a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet and see what electrical engineering is all about.
Due to these reasons, my chosen Plus3 Engineering program is Plus3 Seoul, South Korea. I chose this program because I believe it relates to me personally, academically, and professionally. On the personal side, it is very important to me to learn more about Asian culture because of my mother, along with the fact that the unique opportunity to visit a place so far such as South Korea is special. Regarding academic reasons, the topic of Plus3 South Korea is “Smart Systems,” which I believe will be extremely beneficial to my time at Swanson studying electrical engineering. South Korea is home to many “titans of industry” in engineering, such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and Kia, just to name a few. Not only does this benefit me academically but also professionally. On this trip, we will make company visits to companies such as Hyundai and TK Elevator, giving me the unique opportunity of seeing how top foreign companies operate, not to mention the insight I will gain and be able to bring back to Swanson. These experiences will be applicable for me in the classroom and in my future career as a professional engineer.
I look forward to visiting the beautiful country of South Korea and making the most of my experience. I am extremely excited to spend time with my fellow Plus3 South Korea classmates and soak in everything that this unique opportunity has to offer!