BMES Board Spotlight: Thamira Skandakumar!

Meet Thamira Skandakumar! Thamira is a 4th-year Bioengineering major and our very own External Vice President (EVP). Read on to learn more about her!

How'd you hear about BMES?

Mandy Hung was my MentorSEAS mentor, and as president, she convinced me to join the club. During GM, I learned that freshmen could be committee members and decided to apply to be more involved. And that’s how it all began folks(:

How long have you been involved with BMES?

I have been a part of BMES since my freshman year of college. I first joined as a regular member and that same year, I became a member of the Industry Committee. Freshman year, I stayed heavily involved in BMES through the EKG build team as well as Euracil, the greatest BMES family to ever exist. Sophomore year, I became industry chair and was a part of the BMES Design team. I then transitioned to be Mentorship Coordinator my junior year and I am now the External Vice President.

What are your primary responsibilities as EVP?

The primary responsibility of the External Vice President is to manage all external affairs of the organization and support all chairs with funding for large-scale events. I oversee industry, academic and community outreach chairs in event planning and communications. I also collaborate with the Treasurer to manage the Finance Committee to create budgets for all chairs, track BMES expenditures and acquire funding for all major events. Lastly, I coordinate collaborations between BMES and other engineering organizations as well as communicate with company representatives for the acquisition of financial and participatory sponsorships.

What do you enjoy most about your position?

My favorite part of this position is that I get to be a part of the planning process for most industry related events. I love getting to be involved in discussing logistics and communicating with company representatives. I also love learning about the ins and outs of the bioengineering engineering world and what the industry has to offer.

What's one thing you've learned from being EVP?

How to think on my feet~

I'm definitely grateful that this position has helped me get better at decision making. I have dealt with a lot of last minute situations where decisions have had to be made on the spot, either in relation to finances or industry related events. In the beginning I felt like I had a lot of pressure on me and didn't want to affect the club negatively in any way. But after getting more exposure to these time-sensitive related situations, not only has it been easier, but it has shown me that I'm not necessarily alone and that I have other members of BMES I can discuss things with to do what's best for the club.

Favorite BMES memory?

Definitely BMES Ball 2020. As someone who loves dancing, any event where I can get dolled up and be up on my feet for hours on end puts me in a good mood. And it was definitely better because I was surrounded by some of my favorite people on this planet (insert simp emoji here). And how could I forget the yummy samiches and live DJ?!?! My friends and I ended that night at Parsa’s apartment and just chilled with some good ol’ Westwood Hangry Moon’s. Truly one one the best nights I had before the pandemic took our lives away /:

Favorite class you've taken at UCLA?

Music History 68: The Beatles. 

This class is easily the best class I’ve taken at UCLA. We spent the majority of class listening to The Beatles' albums and watching some of their films.  Our take home midterms/finals required us to analyze one of their albums for its relation to history and musicality. As a past music nerd, this class brought me utmost happiness so I definitely recommend this class to anyone who enjoys listening to music and wants an easy A.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to dance, rave to EDM, work out and hang out with friends (socially distanced of course)! Since the pandemic, I have found a new love for enjoying some personal time, binge watching New Girl, and going on walks ~ the normal things you can do during a pandemic.

Describe yourself as a Care Bear.

I'd be a light blue/turquoise Care Bear. My belly badge would probably be a lightning bolt so that I could recharge whenever. I mean like who doesn’t love a good nap but is sleep really that essential?

Anything else you'd like to share?

​hi(: if u made it to the end, I hope you have a wonderful day <3