Meet a Roadrunner: Christian Treviño ’15 is an engineer with an artist’s soul
Christian Treviño
Treviño prints and paints the Rowdy walker toy she designed.
Christian Treviño
Treviño prints and paints the Rowdy walker toy she designed.
Share this Story(June 15, 2016) -- Meet Christian Treviño ’15. This UTSA mechanical engineering graduate student is using her artistic ability to be a more innovative engineer.
Born and raised in Del Rio, Treviño grew up with a passion for painting and a mind for engineering. When she graduated early from high school and enrolled as a freshman at UTSA, she was uncertain of which path to follow.
“At first, I wasn’t sure I should study engineering, and I was considering going to art school instead,” she said.
Treviño traveled to Italy for a semester with students in the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts to help her decide.
“Traveling with them was when I realized I could be both an artist and an engineer, a true design engineer,” she said.
When she returned to San Antonio, the Honors College student focused on mechanical engineering, which appealed to her creative tendencies.
During Treviño’s senior year, Pranav Bhounsule, UTSA assistant professor of mechanical engineering, sparked her creative side by sending her an idea for her honors undergraduate thesis. It involved walking toys from almost a century earlier, which enticed Treviño since she had been fascinated by wooden toys since childhood.
Together, they discussed different ways to reverse engineer one of the toys and reconstruct it using modern technology. She created six prototypes during her senior year before she was satisfied with the Rowdy Walker.
“I decided to make it a Rowdyhead because I’m a proud Roadrunner, and I knew it was something that a lot of other people would enjoy,” she said.
Now a graduate student at UTSA, Treviño is focusing on earning her master’s degree in mechanical engineering and eventually building a career as a design engineer. She hopes to work with her father, an inventor and contractor.
“I see my first degree in mechanical engineering as a really strong stepping stone, and right now I am setting one more with my master’s,” she said. “I really couldn’t have done it without my professors, especially Dr. Bhounsule. The guidance and support I’ve received at UTSA has been overwhelming.”
-------------------------------
Do you know a Roadrunner who is achieving great things? Email us at social@utsa.edu so that we may consider your suggestion for our next installment of Meet a Roadrunner.
Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Events
This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.
