WHO AM I?
My name is Peyton Bursin and I am a mechanical engineer interested in pursuing automotive/aerospace work. I am especially captivated by dynamics, control and robotics. Designing powertrain hardware and algorithms designed to control them are my passion.
I have graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B.S. in mechanical engineering as of June 2025. I am returning for another year to complete M.S. in mechanical engineering by June 2026. My time here will be spent focused on coursework involving dynamics, control and robotics. I will also be completing research involving microfluidics and semiconductors. From work dedicated to robotics, thermal management, fluids and electronic fabrication/characterization, I believe I am capable of innovating solutions in regards to power management of modern vehicles.
Skills and Qualities
What sets me apart?
I'm a big believer in organization and sticking to goals. It's important to have a vision when taking on a long term project. I've been a part of so many teams early on in my career where the project starts off optimistically for the first few weeks, then becomes very stressful the moment deadlines approach. This results in an unnecessary amount of late nights, poor work, and a feeling of apprehension when it's time to present. I'm sure you've felt that at some point.
I've learned how to remedy this not only with my completion of a bachelor's degree at UC Santa Barbara, but in my time spent with water polo and swim as well. It is impossible to significantly progress in any of these fields without consistent, intentional investments. I regularly practice setting annual goals for my athletic life, setting both small and large goals. This gives me something to aim for on a daily basis, whether that's reviewing game footage or qualifying for the next level swim meet. My peers have recognized this dedication, which is why my water polo team recently selected me to operate as their captain for the upcoming college season. My goal is to not only place as high as possible this year, but transfer the habits I've developed so everyone on the team can practice critical thinking and commitment.
Though at first this may seem like it has little to do with my engineering work, I promise the skills translate. I recently concluded my senior project with UC Santa Barbara, which can be understood more in the projects section. Designing a cooling system for a car is not a trivial task, and the school required frequent updates/modules throughout the year. My team and I (five in total) needed someone to steer us in the right direction if we were going to successfully navigate the hardships ahead. I found after the first month that I was best served assessing everyone's strengths/weaknesses and assigning us a proportionate amount of work. Once I completed my work, I would reach out to my team to offer assistance in any way. I would not rest until everyone's portions had been completed. This particular trait has been learned through my time spent in water polo and swim. It does not matter to me if I've performed better than my teammates, the regret of not having done more still hurts if we lose.
Applying these habits to the senior project completely changed the nature of our team's work. The late nights decreased in frequency, the weekly meetings were more productive, and our presentations were well prepared. I not only got to practice my ability managing workloads, I also got to learn a lot about project development and manufacturing when offering to help my team with their individual tasks. I can happily say at the end of the year that I am very satisfied with what we were able to produce despite lacking a true sponsor, having some of the most expensive purchases of our class, and manufacturing complicated features for the project. While the engineering skills are important, I could not have gained them without the work ethic I've gone into detail about. I hope the work I show you can help you appreciate what planning, setting aside your ego, and being relentless can do for someone.