My name is Christian Wylonis and I graduated with an A.B. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College. I took an introductory solid mechanics course at Dartmouth which introduced me to the field. Solid mechanics was my favorite course at Dartmouth and was what led me to come to Harvard to pursue a masters degree. This course, however, is the only one I have taken in the field of mechanics. My weakness, therefore, is my lack of experience with solid mechanics and the fact that I have taken fewer engineering courses than most other people starting at SEAS. I am relatively new to the field of mechanics so I feel that my strength is my drive to learn as much as possible this term.
My goals for ES240 are two fold. Firstly, I hope to gain proficiency in the field of solid mechanics and refine my problem solving ability. Secondly, I hope to gain exposure to a wide variety of disciplines within solid mechanics. I am currently considering taking 299R next term and it would most likely be in solid mechanics. I hope that the exposure will inspire me to decide which specific field I want to do research in and possibly what kind of research I want to pursue.
I am at Harvard for a S.M. degree and I will therefore not be pursuing research later. I am therefore not in a research group and do not have a research direction. I think ES240 will contribute to my education by giving me proficiency in mechanics and giving me vital analystical and problem solving abilities for future classes. I hope to put my skills from Solid Mechanics to use in industry after graduation.