Computer Engineering
Biography
My name is Elijah Raffel and I am studying computer engineering with a minor in engineering entrepreneurship along with being a member of the 2025 Cohort of the Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program. I am from Memphis where I lived with my four little sisters along with me having a brother on the way. Throughout my life, I have always found a fondness for tinkering with the technology around me. With this, I was able to grow my passion by joining the robotics club at my high school. Between running the club and helping raise my siblings I have grown strong leadership skills while also having to be strongly self-driven to be able to get tasks done within a manageable timeframe. The skill that has helped me the most, however, has been my ability to work within a team effectively. Realizing that you cannot do everything, but instead look out to those around you with more experience in that problem is one of the most if not the most important lessons in entrepreneurship. Having all of this said, that is why I have decided to join IBEP. Not only will this program give me a better insight into how the business world works, but it will also help me better understand who I need to talk to when I run into problems later on when jumping into the world of entrepreneurship. As far as my immediate professional goals I am hoping to get enough experience through internships to better understand what field I find interesting within the world of engineering. I am hoping to land a job in renewable energy or a startup focused on innovation and development. Through this I will be able to learn more in-depth about how products of the future are made, hopefully giving me inspiration for an idea of my own.