“I first became interested in engineering when I got my first smartphone as a kid. I was fascinated that this small rectangular box was basically a computer that could do so many different things. I started reading about the components inside it and looking up how the internet and communication networks actually work.

That’s when I realized I didn’t want to just be a consumer of technology. I wanted to be someone who understands it and builds it.

I also really like history—not just when a country was founded or who won a war, but the tools that actually changed the course of history. Language, numbers and simple machines like pulleys all changed what humans could do. More recently, I think smartphones have done the same.

Naturally, I began wondering what the next tool like that might be. While reading books about futurology, I came across brain-computer interfaces, or BCI. What interested me most was that BCI isn’t just another way to interact with a computer. It could help restore functions people have lost because of paralysis or nerve damage—and perhaps even help us overcome some of the limitations of the human body.

As I read more about BCI, I kept seeing the Utah Array mentioned. I learned that it has been used in invasive BCI research for decades and discovered that it was developed at the University of Utah. That led me to the work of researchers such as Professors Richard Normann, Jacob George and Florian Solzbacher, who have contributed to advances in neural interfaces and BCIs.

Knowing that an important technology like the Utah Array came from the University of Utah—and that neural interface research is still active there today—made the university feel like a natural fit for what I want to study.

I’ve lived in Korea for almost my entire life, so I originally assumed I would attend a Korean university. Then I found out that I could begin as a University of Utah student at the Asia Campus in Incheon and later study at the Salt Lake City campus. I could experience both Korea and the U.S. while studying something I’m genuinely interested in. At that point, applying to Utah felt almost like a no-brainer.

Now, I’m excited to connect the engineering and BCI topics I’ve only read about with actual classes and projects. I want to build a strong foundation in electrical engineering, programming, math and signal processing, then explore different areas of BCI and figure out where I can contribute the most.

Studying in English makes me nervous. Listening to lectures, completing assignments and speaking with professors won’t always be easy. But I also see it as a good opportunity to improve.

If my future self could speak to me on my first day of college, I think he would say, ‘Don’t try to do something huge too quickly, and don’t worry too much. Start with what you need to do right now, one thing at a time, and keep building small projects.’”

— Sangwon Kang, first-year student at the University of Utah Asia Campus, majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering.