Blending art and engineering
Charlize Hadix '26 has earned an associate's degree in Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering while maintaining an intentional creative practice.
Blending art and engineering
Charlize Hadix '26 has earned an associate's degree in Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering while maintaining an intentional creative practice.
Charlize Hadix, a senior Robotics Engineering major, came to Miami University with an associate’s degree in Electromechanical Engineering Technology from Zane State College. She took college classes through high school and arrived at Miami with around seventy credits. Through this process she was able to see firsthand the difference between an associate’s degree in Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
According to Hadix, her associate’s degree gave her hands-on, practical experience designed to prepare her to go into a trade, working roles such as an electrician or service technician. It focused on fundamental knowledge and independence, both of which would be necessary to go into a trade. Through this early and technical exposure to engineering, she was able to discover what type of work she likes doing.
Hadix nearly stopped her education after getting her associate’s degree, but she decided to continue after realizing how much she still wanted to learn.
“I just kept finding things that I liked, and I think that’s why I kept pursuing education, especially the science, because there’s some stuff in a science degree that you can’t get in a technical degree,” Hadix said.
With this in mind, Hadix decided to continue her education at Miami's Oxford campus, where she was introduced to more conceptual engineering ideas and a broad range of information.
“[A Bachelor of Science is] more focused, as with many science degrees, on the conceptual ideas and the calculations behind it, so you can prove what you’re doing and you have that fundamental knowledge to create the technology,” Hadix said. “I do really appreciate getting my degree at Miami, because even though I had all those practical skills, I wanted to advance my knowledge more conceptually as well.”
This, though different from her experience getting her associate’s, allowed her the opportunity to explore new aspects of engineering. With her degree at Miami, Hadix was introduced to new concepts through her diverse class set, which stemmed from Miami Plan classes and her general robotics degree. Through this she discovered a passion for coding and began to understand the future career options available to her.
“I think Miami has also opened my eyes to the various types of careers that could be,” Hadix said. “Especially in my classes, they mentioned all the different pipelines you could go down that I just wasn’t aware of in my associate’s degree, because I feel like there’s different opportunities lended to you in each degree.”
With knowledge of the possibilities, Hadix began to understand that she wanted to pursue a career of programming and robotics.
This led her to her job at Huhtamaki, a sustainable food packaging company, which she discovered at the Career Fair. Following graduation, she will be working there as a manufacturing engineer.
Along with attending her engineering classes and learning new coding skills, Hadix has an artistic side that she intentionally cultivates. In addition to participating in RedHawk Radio, one way she has been doing so is by painting her graduation caps. She began this in high school when she painted both her high school and associate’s graduation caps and she has continued the tradition to this year by painting her Miami graduation cap.
Above: The stages of creating Charlize Hadix's Miami University graduation cap, from painting the sunset and field to adding functioning lights.
For her Miami graduation, she painted nature scenery with a field of flowers and a sunset to point back to her creativity and her hometown of Senecaville, Ohio. However, she also included an “M” surrounded by lights to reference her engineering skills and her experience at Miami. This dual perspective showcases her creativity and her engineering skills, both of which are integral parts of her.
“In engineering especially, you’re constantly using your brain, using your analytical skills, doing math and science all the time,” Hadix said, “but I need that balance of, let me express myself and have that creativity. It’s so soothing.”
Through her experience at Miami, Hadix was able to cultivate her passions, learning more about the conceptual aspects of engineering through her diverse classes and discovering the future career aspects available to her, all while balancing her artistic nature with her scientific engineering skills.