Class of 2016, BS in mechanical engineering

After earning her BS in mechanical engineering this May, Jasmine Merali will need just one more year to earn her master's degree—thanks to the College of Engineering's Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Degree Program.

"I figured if I could earn my master's degree as quickly as possible and then go to work without having to worry about further schooling, that's what I wanted to do," says Merali.

While she's doing that, she will also be assisting Jim Chen, professor of mechanical engineering, to further his research on how to increase wind turbine efficiency. That's a natural fit for Merali. "I've always been interested in fluids and aerodynamics," she says. "Ideally, I'd love to work for a company that is involved with airplanes."

Merali, who initially enrolled in Temple as a pre-med major, fell in love with engineering and took classes over the course of two summers in order to graduate in just four years. "It's definitely been a very hard, vigorous process," she says. "But it has certainly prepared me for any problem I might face in the real world. I feel that if you can make it through the College of Engineering, you can make it through almost anything."

Merali's father is Salim Merali, a biochemist and professor in the Temple School of Pharmacy's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research; her mother Carmen also works in her father's laboratory.

Formerly a nationally ranked U.S. Tennis Association junior tennis player, the Queens-born Merali played tennis for both Radnor High School and—as a walk-on—for Temple University's women's team. She even captained the Owls her junior year until the bad knees and back that had plagued her since high school forced her to stop playing.

That decision, however, freed her up to serve as the College of Engineering Alumni Association's student representative and to join the Temple chapter of Pi Tau Sigma (PTS), the international mechanical engineering honor society; this academic year she served as the honor society's chapter president.

Says Merali: "I've always tended to be more of a leader than a follower, and PTS has been a great way to meet new people involved in engineering, collaborate with other student organizations and get more involved in the College of Engineering."