My name is Alexander Johnstone and I am currently enrolled as a second year student at the University of Florida pursuing my Bachelor's Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. I am participating in the combination degree program, allowing me to take graduate level courses at this time, helping take a years time off of a masters degree. Furthermore, I was accepted in the University of Florida's Honor College providing countless opportunities to further develop and apply my education amongst my peers. My time at the University of Florida has provided me with various projects and challenges that have helped develop my engineering skills and provide a solid foundation to help apply myself in many different ways. One of the first projects completed involved writing a materials selection paper on a topic of my choice. This project gave me experience with my selected major and provided me experience using new software, such as Ansys Granta. Throughout my time in the lab, I have learned a great deal of skills that are applicable in both research and industry settings. Projects such as the food packaging lab and composite layup lab required the first hand use of material characterization techniques. The use of tensile tests, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), tensile testing, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Charpy impact testing, and three point bending were all necessary for understanding the properties and composition of unknown materials.Recently, I had the opportunity to work at Saliwanchik, Lloyd & Eisenschenk, where I was able to learn about intellectual property and the process for submitting patent applications. Through this internship, I was able to learn a great deal of skills that are applicable in a wide range of jobs and roles. While there, I was required to quickly learn the patent application process and apply critical thinking skills to edit rejected patents. There was frequent use of Microsoft 365 when writing technical reports associated with completed research regarding inventions in the biochemistry field.