Initial Thoughts
I'm passionate about astrophysics, particle physics, and astro-robotics. There are a wide variety of ways to apply such topics to a Capstone project: building a small-scale liquid fuel rocket engine, working on quantum optical circuitry (something I already have experience with), or building robotic satellite or exploration system testbeds come to mind.
Most of my free time is spent building things, so I have experience with many hands-on engineering skills. I've built a variety of mechanical and robotic projects (such as an underwater ROV submersible robot) since I find making things very enjoyable. To a lesser extent, I also enjoy compiler design: I'm effectively working to solve problems that I commonly face across many projects by reinventing the tools themselves, rather than trying to cope with existing ones better. Lastly, I enjoy playing music; I play jazz saxophone in the school big band and in a jazz combo, compose my own pieces, and have developed a modestly competent improvisational capacity.
Although I'm not perfectly sure exactly what skills I will improve through this Capstone project, I might like to improve my machining skills; for example, getting more experience working on a lathe. I also want to improve my diligence of note-taking, as with physical engineering projects I often do not give as much attention to documenting my ideas as I should.
Given that most of my skills and passions are related directly to engineering, most are directly applicable to a potential Capstone project! I will be doing my Capstone on something related to space engineering, so I can definitely apply my robotics-oriented skills as well as my knowledge of astrophysics. Because I already spend so much time on engineering projects, I'm sure I'll have no difficulty with being passionate about my Capstone project!
⚠ Note: This page is a work in progress and will be updated as work is completed!